XCOM: ReConquest
by havok038
Summary: A young programmer becomes a fugitive to ADVENT. His crime; reading an encrypted file off the network that wasn't suppose to be in his possession. There wasn't anything noteworthy on the file except the word 'Avatar' popping up repeatedly. An XCOM ground team is dispatched to extract him from the scene, led by a young girl named Alicia Hunor. Sequel/Standalone to XCOM: Conquest
1. Chapter 1 - Professional Fugitive

**Welcome. For those who have read some of XCOM: Conquest, cheers! And those that haven't don't worry, the story will have featured characters from the old one and running side by side until the old one is complete, then i'll throw in some crossover details.**

 **-This story will contain it's own standalone plot-**

 **With that said, enjoy! I did this as a way to refresh away from the old one if i get bored. Two chapters side by side released. Chapter 1-2.  
**

* * *

The tapping of feet echoed through the empty streets of Adelaide, New Australia shouts of binary code and rhythmic tapping of boots patrolling metro. Martial law had been in effect for almost an hour now. ADVENT troops searched door to door looking for him, so why you might ask?

Horus was a computer programmer for the ADVENT media block, he had only turned 24 and was still a virgin. Using the cover of the dark areas he avoided the too uniformly moving ADVENT troops, their movement seemed to be rigid and inflexible they only travelled in straight lines and never strayed from a formation. Horus had found this one single behavior to aid him tremendously through avoiding them, that and the anonymous caller who had been giving him directions and had first warned him of ADVENTs imminent arrival at his dorm. His unfortunate roommate had gone to answer the door and had gotten a high density mag slug to the head for his obedience.

That had been the last straw for him, his peers had their unwavering loyalty to the new administration but he had his doubts about the administration. He was a lot older than his peers so had had actually bore witness to the opening days of the invasion 20 years ago, even if he was too young then to remember much. His parents had coincidentally went missing right after a pact of mutual understanding had been signed between the UN and the aliens. Left alone there wasn't much an abandoned child could do for himself, his extended family was nowhere to be seen.

In the end, ironically it was the new administration that took him in and sponsored his childhood till he became an adult. So he couldn't really they had ulterior motives then. His employer sent him to New Australia to do analysis on the percentage of pro-ADVENT supporters in that region.

Because Australia had one of the highest insurgent activities throughout the world. The vast terrain of the continent meant that the insurgents could hide or pop out anywhere however they wished. ADVENT was already having a hard time keeping the urban cities safe and they needed him to produce the figures who would support a large scale operation to clear out the extremists and alien haters was how his boss had described it.

"So why am I being targeted?!" Horus lamented to himself. It made no sense. He thought of all the possibilities that led to his current predicament.

-You saw something you weren't supposed to and now they want to keep it that way.-

The voice replied to him through his earphones. Clearly the moment he started interacting with this caller was the moment when all hell broke loose, it seemed too convenient to blame others for his own faults. But he had a feeling it had been when he dug up that heavily encrypted file from the network, he was only trying to do his job by going the extra mile to source figures.

Apparently they didn't appreciate his snooping around. He only had a day with the file and noticed some strange pattern occur in the code written down, the word kept popping up, 'Avatar'.

"So what do I do now?" He asked calmly.

-Mmm? You seem a lot calmer than most of those seeking asylum.-

"What's done is done! There's no way I could turn back time, I have to live with the consequence of what I did even if I don't know what it was exactly. I need to make do with what's available, starting with you." It didn't pay to dwell on the past, that was what his parents had taught him though he didn't think it would be used in this kind of scenario where he became a fugitive to the administration.

The caller remained quiet for a while, as if processing his words. He could do nothing but wait till that person gave him instructions on how to evade the patrols and get to safety.

-Aren't you curious of who we are?-

"..."

-...Why we're even taking an interest in helping you?-

"At this rate, if you said you were extremists from some cult I'd still accept!" Horus was a very pragmatic person and it won him a fair share of enemies in the academy when he refused to join the unions whom were ADVENT sponsored. He merely sought his own means in climbing up in the world, but the union groups took it as being ungrateful to the administration. Somehow they had access to his history and had made his journey throughout his schooling days a living hell. He could do nothing but suck it up and work hard, the teachers and lecturers took notice of his diligence and had paid special attention to him. This had granted him their protection through until his graduation so he was not at all upset at the end of the day.

-(giggle) And what if we are really them?-

Horus had a gut feeling that the caller was a woman from the way he was being teased in a highly stressful situation.

"Um... I'd love to chat and perhaps meet up with you but I'm currently running for my live so if you could please lend a hand that would be great!"

-Oh don't worry! Help is on the way and they're coming to you, they can already see you from here.-

Horus looked around on reflex but all he saw was darkness and flaying light from those scanning posts.

(Binary code) His position was revealed shortly after and ADVENT troops began to fire at his position which he quickly displaced. "Shit!"

More and more troopers began to converge on him as he ran through the streets seeking avenues for escape, his skid against the permacrete floor as an impassible obstacle lay before him. A wall stood before him denying him passage further, he tried to double back whence he came but the ADVENT troopers led by their red leader had blocked his only route.

He backed up against the wall helpless as he had no means to escape or fight back. (Binary speech) The red leader ordered the troops to take aim, they formed a line as they did so. It looked almost like a firing squad that he read about in those books. Nobody read from those anymore, not when everything can be found at a tap on the screen, then again even before the invasion that was already happening.

How short his life was, he would not even have time to find his parents let alone start a family like he always wanted. Those days of loneliness were finally over but not as he had expected, he was to be put into an eternal slumber.

"..."

Another bark in binary ordered the cocking of their rifles. This was truly the end for him.

"Arghhh!...Fuck it!..." He had enough of living as other dictated it, it left a sour taste whenever he achieved something it was all because someone else had done helped him to attain it.

As the ADVENT troops aimed their rifles to take his life an unexplainable emotion had come over him, his body seemed to have this itch as if he had not expressed it for a while. Now was a better time than ever, it would be the last time he could express it. As he did a pleasurable sensation had filled his body.

The red leader and her fellow ADVENT soldiers stumbled upon their movements for a second, caught off guard by something. He was not sure whether he had expressed it before or not. But whatever it was it made the red leader hesitate.

Gunfire overhead shredded the lined up ADVENT soldiers like they were the ones being executed by gunfire instead. "CLEAR!" A voice called out and multiple silhouettes revealed themselves from the shadows, in the lead was a petite female with a hood over her head and a machete on her back.

"Pfeeww! And just in time, you're a very lucky man you are! ADVENTs policies are usually to shoot on sight, whatever you did to delay them it se-...something funny?"

"I don't know what you mean?" The woman looked at him weird for a moment and then asked.

"Then why are you smiling?"

* * *

"I was...smiling?" That unfamiliar expression was him smiling? Horus thought back for a moment, had he not smiled before?

No. There was one time he smiled, it was on the day his parents took him to the beach on a sunday. The water was so clear you could see your feet buried within the fine smooth sand and the smell of sea water had brought a smile to his face. He realized that ever since then, he had not felt joy even once. It was so laughable that he unconsciously smiled, mocking his own existence when he had been forced to come to terms with it at death's door.

Truly laughab- "Hheeeellllooo!"

Horus returned from his inner monologue, and turned to the petite woman.

"Oh! Sorry, and thanks for the rescue!" He may never have another chance with the pace of everything.

"... You ok? Blanked out for a while now, not to mention you still had that creepy smile on you."

"C-creepy?! No way!"

"Ehehe! Yes, way! I'm not sure whether you do that all the time or what but please don't let anyone else see it, it'll ruin your image." The woman advised him.

-Firefox, come in! This is Alice, have you secured the VIP?-

The radio call the hooded woman received sounded familiar. Wait a minute, that's the caller!

"Firefox to Alice, VIP secure and returning to Evac site!"

-Change of plans, ADVENT is bringing in reinforcements on the Evac point. Switch to secondary landing and dig-in until we arrive, Firebrand is already on her way, over.-

"Firefox copies, will hold at secondary. Happy hunting, Alice. Over."

The petite woman raised her hand and formed a fist, this action caused her companions to gather around in a circle around her. Horus stood near them to listen in on the conversation, but he couldn't help but notice her companions were all towering giants which out-classed her in the height department, she was protected all-around by them.

"What's the plan boss?" One of the men asked.

"Change of plans, ADVENT is peppering the South exit. We'll run to the secondary and hold and wait for Alice and the rest. Right! Gunman take point, the rest follow."

"""Roger!""" Her companions responded as one.

The woman walked back to him.

"I'll need to call you something over the firefight that's about to happen, you have a name I can call?"

"Horus, just Horus!"

"Alright, just Horus! Follow me and stay close." She smiled.

They moved cautiously through the streets, guiding Horus along with them. There were random patrols which they avoided effortlessly as they slipped through a checkpoint towards their unspecified location.

"So what did you do?"

"Huh?"

"Why're they trying to kill you?" She specified further.

"I'm not sure myself but, it seems I peeked at something I shouldn't have in the network."

"Mmmm….. So what's your occupation?"

"Computer analysis and programmer, 1st degree. Worked in the media branch for ADVENT, my job comprised of finding figures in the population into charts and a little of programing involved in building the mainframe in this regions branch."

"So you not from around here?"

"No, I'm not an Aussie. I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

"It's Heather, Heather Fields. I'm a combatant for XCOM."

"XCOM?"

XCOM was the public enemy number one for the list of insurgents of ADVENT. But Horus remembered who they were, the official story was they had been the vanguard of humanity against the invasion. But when world leaders signed a peace treaty they went rogue and went into hiding, becoming a terrorist group.

"Huh?... didn't you know who was rescuing you?"

"My caller never specified her organization, besides I only received the call a few hours ago."

"Is that so, well at least you know who we are now, don't you?"

Horus nodded, Heather was trying to make him as comfortable with the situation as possible. Not that he was hysterical or anything. Heather noticed his unusually calm mannerism.

(Giggle)

"What is it?"

"You know, you just might be the first person we've ever encountered who wasn't panicking or breaking down in this situation. Don't you know your losing that secure and comfortable life you once lived in the city?"

"..." Perhaps most people were unadaptive to changing environments, but he wasn't most people.

"Live was never comfortable in those cities, i had a sheltered living with everything provided for but the home was empty."

"...I think where we're going might give you just what your looking for!" She seemed to have some understanding.

"Thanks but i'll save it for when we get out of this place." His pragmatic reflex kicked in.

She nodded and went ahead to check with her pointman. They reached the end of the alley to a large atrium, the air was quiet with not even a breeze blowing.

They peered around the corner of the alley.

"Two guards by a sentry turret, piece of cake, boss?" The pointman declared and asked his boss for further orders.

"Anyone else?"

"The square looks clear, the guards don't look like they're expecting anyone either."

Horus had a look around the corner, he carefully analyzed the surroundings.

"There's something else watching this square." Horus told them straight.

"What do you mean, Horus?" Heather ask politely, but also attentive to suggestions.

"Bah! When did the city-dweller become an expert in ambushes? I'm telling you there is nothin watching that square cept those guards!" The pointman spoke in a cocknee accent, dismissed his worry.

"Those guards are usually accompanied by a red one or one of those aliens. Aside from the absence of any other activity in the area i would say something is watching overhead, giving those guards a sense of assurance in the event they really get hit."

The pointman didn't seem pleased at his suggestion and pushed his superior to take the position.

"We're on a tight window, boss! Any minute now, Alice is going to appear and find that we have not secured the place and gotten her pincered instead."

"..." Time was short, at any minute now Alice and the remainder of their strikeforce would return with a horde of hostiles on their tail. The last thing they needed was to be bottlenecked.

"... We'll proceed with the plan, the probability of any other hostiles besides the two guards are low because of Alice's diversion but keep your eyes peeled."

The group complied and the cocknee fellow gave a smirk at Horus, but this was none of his business.

"Go! Split in two and flank them." She directed their movement through the square's many benches and holo-panels.

There was barely a fight, with a timed takedown they disabled the two guards with ease, the sentry turret had not been activate at all so there was no worries. Horus walked out of cover to their location at the centre of the square as they moved to set up positions.

Was he wrong about this place having some eyes on it?

"Thank god it wasn't as bad as you said, got to appreciate the small opportunities that luck provides us." Heather chirped.

"Haa! See city-boy! There's nothing wrong with this arrangement of guards, don't go preaching about things you've barely even gone through! We on the other hand have done this countless number of times!" The cocknee fellow jeered at him.

"Seems that you've got a lot to lea-(slice)..." the cocknee man didn't even have time to react nor believe what he saw, a fist size hole appeared right through his heart and he dropped flat on the ground.

"Contact! Take cover, suppression fire!" Heathers orders awoke the others out of their disbelief.

They carried out their orders with extreme prejudice.

"God, where are they?!"

"Who cares just fire?" They sprayed rounds all over the place.

"Anyone see the shooter?" Heather called out.

"No ma'am! Nothing!" As the man replied a tracer of green pierced his torso and ended his life as well.

The group continued to shoot but now at the direction of the shot.

Horus watch the events unfold and took a look at the cocknee man's corpse, a large hole with the tissue cautarized from the inside was visible. Horus guessed the point of origin from the hole and which direction the corpsed collapsed in.

He scanned the windows looking for clues as to where the hidden assassin was, he saw a glint of shining metal. There!

He scavenger the deadman's corpse and pulled out his assault rifle and a couple of grenades and dashed to the foot of the building while maximising his cover.

"Hey! Wait-" Shots from another direction struck the ground near Heather's position forcing her back into cover.

Horus kicked the door down and proceeded with caution as he ascended the stairs with the rifle pointed up at the corners as he turned them. The rifle felt very natural in his hands when he was sure he had never handled one before, perhaps it was the calmness under pressure that allowed his thoughts to process the right actions available to him.

His had a hunch that the sniper nest that he was going to could see the other nests from its position as they could see his. So all he had to do was mark them with the rifle fire for them combatants.

Carefully pushing the door to an apartment space he could hear the shots from the alien weapon more distinctly now. He saw the shadow of the shooter, it wasn't human. But had a head of a cobra, the creature was still unaware of his presence but not for long.

He pulled the pin on the grenade and rolled it towards the creature. The Cobra head turned to look at what was making that noise coming closer to it, it hissed in shock as it realised too later what it had been.

From the square, an explosion from the west building facing them could be seen by all the members including the ambushers.

The aliens increased their volume of fire to pin them down hoping for reinforcements to take care of them.

Horuse carefully poked his head out of the destroyed nest and observed the buildings facing the square.

"Firefox, this is Horus do you hear me, how your fire!" Horus spoke through the earpiece as he adjusted the channel matching the one on the cocknee man's radio device.

-How di- Nevermind! Where are you?!-

"Firefox, order your team to hold fire. I'll be marking the sniper nests with my tracer fire."

-O-Ok! Fire team hold fire, watch for tracer fire and await my command!-

Horus looked again to confirm the area, he rested the rifle against the window base and fired bursts at the position right below the window of where the sniper was.

"There! 3 o'clock, second window from the ground fire!" At Heathers command a barrage of lead peppered the window until even the walls gave way and another one of those snake aliens fell to its death from the window.

"Confirmed kill. Cease fire and await tracer!"

Using his good vision, he took his time to analyse the windows. He was pretty sure where the last one was because it would form a overwatch triangle over the square, so one last sniper.

"Found you."

He fired short bursts at the wall beneath another window.

"7 o'clock, 4th floor and third window from the right, fire!"

This time a rocket flew to that designated position. The rubble erupted out of the balcony as well as the alien's blood, the rockets explosion had pulverised it.

Horus remained in his position for a while longer to double confirm there wasn't anymore he had missed out. When he was certain there were none, he pranced down the stairs and walked his way to the centre of the battered square.

Heather came to meet him.

"I'll take that off you." She raised her hand to his rifle and grenade bandolier he took from the dead man. He handed them back to her without question.

"You've really saved us this time, we owe you. If only i had listen to you earlier then gunman and welsh would still be alive." She sighed.

"That was just a feeling i had it was completely baseless without evidence. So anything could have happened, even you could have died instead. Although i wouldn't really like that!"

Heather smiled at him for his thoughfulness at easing her grief of lost men.

"Boys, dig in and secure the bodies. Alice should be here at any minute now!"

The sound of mag rounds became louder and closer just as she had given the orders,they were nearing soon. The men double timed in finding suitable emplacements to hold from as they awaited Firebrand.

"Here they come! Jesus! That's too much for us to handle!" Heather bit her lip him frustration to the continued stream of bad occurances.

Five soldiers ran with a blonde haired young woman in the leader. As they jumped over the emplacements. Heathers'group returned fire to suppress the incoming wave of ADVENT troops.

"We secured the evac with a little difficulty but was managed quickly and now we own it, what's that eta on firebrand?" Heather spoke to the gorgeous woman.

"5 minutes with a 3 minute window of exit and no less."

"With a force this size there's no way we can evac safely in time, what are our other options?"

"I've expended all my groups' rockets and grenades, there's now way of holding them back while we evac. That means someone must stay here while the rest go!" Her superior informed her.

"Your not- NO! That's out of the question!"

"Do you want us all to die here then?!"

Horus had been looking for any available features around the terrain to use to their advantage, since he felt that he had a winning streak going since his escape from death.

Then he remembered what the dead man reported, the sentry turret was deactivated. So all he needed to do was reactivate it.

He went around crawling through the rubble to maintain lower silhouette throughout his trip to the sentry turret and had finally reached the turret's console.

He tapped the screen but found it wasn't turned on so he took off the hood cover to the console revealing all the flaying wires and another console screen for programming. Then he realised, he could actually program the turret to fire on specific targets himself.

Retrieving his datapad from his pocket he accessed the local network and bypassed the firewalls to get to the domain for turret that was right in front of him. He successfully located it within the local network hub under surveillance directories.

Then he began to rewrite the code for the turret at the utmost speed. Meanwhile the men and women who were fighting for their lives against the overwhelming numbers still increasing by the minute were coming to a consensus that someone had to stay behind. Most likely kill himself to avoid capture in the end.

"I'll stay!"

"Heather!"

"I've lost two of my men due to my incompetence, i hope my life will be enough to compensate them for their efforts."

Her superior looked a little helpless to change her mind on her commitment but then and unexpected surprise came in the form of mag fire directed at the ADVENT troops instead of them and was originating from their rear.

"Didn't i tell you already, Heather? Anyone can die at anytime, and having you die now would be very unfortunate to me." Horus walked up to them.

"Horus...what did you-."

"I reprogrammed the code for the Sentry to target their own IFF i just hope that whatever pickup your hoping to arrive doesn't take too long."

"I guess i owe you again!"

"You and your crew don't owe me anything, but i do want to get a lift from you out of this horrid place." Horus tried to familiarise himself with the smile but failed miserably.

"Ah-ahhahahahha! That smile, it's just... when we go back, let me help you fix it alright?"

Even the gorgeous superior couldn't help but giggle a bit.

Horus frowned slightly at their insensitivity but dismissed it in an instant.

"I look forward to it." He replied back.

The rest of the combatant whom were still fight found it hard to believe their sub-commander and commander giggling away at a conversation with the VIP when moments ago they werediscussing who would sacrifice themselves for the rest to leave. They also noticed the Sentry was firing at the ADVENT troops as well, just who in the world turned it against their former operators?

The sound of jet engines roared above them and a search light beamed down upon them, ropes dangled down into the dirt.

"That's our Evac, ladies and gentlement. Let's move it! Bodies first, VIP second then us!" The superior who was also the caller gave out her directives.

The hovering VTOL did not have to wait long because in less than two minutes all personnel both dead and alive had all been accounted for. The VTOL took off at neck breaking speed to disappear before any interceptors appeared.

There was a quiet humming throughout the aircraft which was quite pleasing to his ears, it helped muffle out the cries of agony from the heavily wounded. Heather and her superior had no time to accomadate him and were busy applying first aid to their bodies.

Horus didn't really have anything to do so he helped out when possible. Having taken a course in first aid had always been useful, they had just run out of the biofoam used to seal the wounds and were left with bandages and gauze. Ironically only one other person throughout the entire group knew the genuine first aid and that was the superior.

"I can't think of a better time that you came to help!" She said while bandaging a man.

"The feeling is mutual. You did come to rescue me after all."

"It's just as I expected, you awkward around praise aren't you." She laughed at him.

"That-...might be true!" He didn't deny it.

The skyranger as the VTOL was called had quite a lengthy ride but he couldn't complain about how smooth the trip was. They landed on a large platform that he spotted quite a while back in the middle of the forest, to be more precise it was a matte black building in the middle of the wildeness. How did ADVENT patrols miss such an obvious thing?

Stepping out of the skyranger, several paramedical crew were already on standby to collect the injured.

"Heather, take charge of things here. I'll take him to meet Central."

"No problem, and Horus, you don't need to worry about a thing. Central is quite understanding, if you want to settle into one of the havens that can be arranged. Anyway, take care. I might catch you soon!" Heather waved to him.

Two guards with metal detector wands appeared and waved around his body with them.

"That's not right. Where's your biochip?" The guard asked.

"I've never had one, I refused the micro-chipping. It only made my life hard there but at least that was my choice." The guard seemed to be rather understanding and swept him one last time with his wand to double check then let him through. He even gave Horus a thumbs-up for his choice, to which he felt shy in response.

The metal doors automatically slit open and the two of them walked side by side, her accompanying Horus through the facility, then she started a conversation.

"So have you decided on what you might want to do when you arrive at our base?"

"For starters i'd like to learn the name of my rescuer and her party."

The superior looked at him thoughtfully for a while and spoke.

"Only if you give yours first."

"Horus, full-time fugitive of the ADVENT administration." He raised his hand for a handshake which she took.

"Nice to meet you, Horus. The names Alicia, Alicia Hunor!

* * *

 **Again i shall elaborate that the two stories will not require reading the other to make sense of the new one. But if you read the old one you'll have the pleasant surprise of seeing recurring characters. The opening of this story is with chapters 1-2.  
**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Burgers are better at-

Even her name sounded good, this blonde haired beauty reminded him of the Valkyries of old that came down onto the battlefields to gather the spirits of the fallen heroes for the final war of Ragnarok.

"Then thanks for saving me today Alicia, if you hadn't been there I would have been riddled with holes."

"Oh? I personally think you were the one who saved us on multiple occasions, Heather can definitely attest to that."

"No... if you hadn't decided to pick me up then all those lives could have been saved." He put it bluntly, there was one thing that he hated in his entire 24 years of living and that was owing someone else.

"... Heather wasn't kidding when she said you had an issue on gratitude."

"I've lived my entire life supported by ADVENT, when my parents disappeared they sent me to a state orphanage. When i studied, they sponsored my tuition. When i needed a job, there was one right there for me. It was so secure that it was disgusting!"

"... You really are a peculiar guy!" She snickered.

"I couldn't even mention a single achievement in my life without mentioning ADVENT in it! How would you feel if you entire life was dictated by others or by others telling you how you should grow up like?"

Alicia looked stunned for a moment, a smile was planted across her face.

"It seems we might have much in common! Ah! We're here, could you wait outside for a second?" They reached outside a room with a holo-globe in the centre, it was some sort of Command Centre.

She walked over to an aged Officer in combat fatigues and talked with him. The hologlobe was the only thing that occupied his mind now, it seemed to dominate the entire room.

But it looked incomplete, the hologram was fizzing and the poles weren't aligned properly so it became more for show than for function. Every part of his body itched to sort out this problem, so he didn't disobey it. He walked straight to the holo-globe and inspected the hub and console, then he took apart the cover to the mainframe and checked to see if the hardware portion was done. It was, but the software was like it was done by a high-school student.

He took out his trusty data pad and linked up with the local network and began working on the code. The staff in the Command Centre didn't seem to mind him tampering with the hub. Perhaps they thought he was the technician hard at work, his focus on the job at hand seemed to give them the impression he was.

"And...there!" As he declared, the holo-globe switched off and restarted its function again.

This caught the attention of everyone in the Centre including Alicia and the old officer.

"Now there's no way we can just let him go!" Bradford grinned and Alicia just smiled.

The holo-globe no longer flickered and the earth was now spinning with points marked to indicate the areas of importance, there were floating discs in red moving around the globe in a certain consistence, he honestly didn't want to know what they were.

As he closed the cover to the hub, the aged officer and Alicia walked up to him.

"If lily caught you doing that she would scream you stole her job, but you certainly left an impression with that little time you worked on the holo-globe, that was a nice job."

"The program was elementary, more like someone laid a foundation and left the job to do something else."

"Ouch! Horus-1 and Lily-NIL!" Alicia said from the sidelines.

"I've not been formerly introduced yet, I am Central Officer Jeremy Bradford. Your already quite the rock star in their fire team. Come! We'll discuss further in my office."

Horus obediently followed Bradford, Alicia tagged along by his side. The office had simple furnishings but had a homily feeling to it like he lived here.

"That's a very rare name you have yourself." Bradford said.

"My parents chose that name, there wasn't any say in it for me."

"What's your surname?"

"I don't have one." He had never heard his parents being called by their surname and neither did the administration keep tabs on it, he was simply found wandering on the street after his parents vanished.

Bradford looked at his pained expression and regretted asking him, Alicia had a complex feeling about him as well.

"Right, I'm sorry for pressing. So Horus, is there anything you've had on your mind that you would like to pursue?"

"I assume you're not going to give me the job of the one who programmed the hologram, are you?"

Bradford laughed heartily like he heard a magnificent joke.

"Hahaha.. hah... thank you! That really made my day, but sorry that job is permanently taken. If she ever heard you say that, an army of drones would chase you to the ends of the earth!"

Alicia also snickered at the thought but held back her laughter.

"If not then I'd like a place among the combatants."

Bradford and Alicia froze as if hearing something unconceivable.

"You need to understand, Horus. That the battlefield isn't as safe as you think, even the casualties received to retrieve you are considered minimal nowadays."

"Then wouldn't having me on the team be of better use, if I'm there to hack into their mainframes I could steal their intel, turn their security systems against them or allow your men to slip pass monitored areas." Horus's proposal sounded all too appealing for Bradford, he was almost about to say yes at the spur of the moment but held himself back.

"If that's what you want then I'll be more than happy to welcome you into the team!" But to Horus it was too obvious that this was all Bradford had been hoping for.

"But first, you'll have to go through our recruits course for combatants first. Lieutenant Hunor will take you there shortly, but before that I would like to hear from you your story."

"My story?"

"Our surveillance caught traffic of you being pursued by ADVENT forces due to an intrusion in their network, whatever you pulled off set off the bells and whistles and flagged you as a target for termination." Bradford informed him.

"I was only doing what was instructed of me at the time. My job consisted of getting a survey of the population via code so I had access to the network pass the security system. I never would have guessed they were so secretive over an encrypted file that was almost gibberish." Bradford's ears perked up when he heard about the encrypted file.

"I see, was that all? Did you find anything, even a small bit would help our efforts here!"

Bradford was now at the edge of his seat waiting for Horus.

"The file was only in my possession for less than a day, I did download it but it's in my computer at my dorm which would have been swarmed with them by now and my place taken apart to look for secrets that I might have hidden."

"There were things that you've kept a secret?"

"Of course, like my porn stash!" Bradford stumped his head against the table and Alicia laughed again.

"How often do you come across paper magazines nowadays, those things are worth thousands now!"

"Anything else…" He forced Horus to change the subject.

Horus thought for a while, just then he remembered a small detail he chanced upon while looking at the script.

"I had a light browse through the files code and I remember seeing a constant trend in it… the name kept popping up every paragraph, 'avatar' this and 'avatar' that."

A stricken look appeared on Bradford's face as if coming across such a grave news.

"Do you have any possession of that files code on you?"

"Like I said, at my computer back in the dorm... Actually, I do but only part of the code. It's on my data pad I used to bring along with me to read in. What the hell is this Avatar thing anyway?"

He took out his data pad and placed it in front of Bradford. The later took hold of it.

"That's what we're curious to find out as well, I'll take this to Tygan for analysis. Lieutenant, take our friend to the Bunks and have him settle in. Tomorrow, you begin your training. Rest well in the meantime and again, welcome to XCOM!" Bradford shook his hand before dismissing them both.

Alicia took him to the bunks within the depths of the facility, coincidentally the armory was part of the bunks which was probably for quick reaction means.

Alicia stood before a sleeping older woman who was resting in a chair.

"Nanna. Nanna wake up."

"Huh?... Alicia, dear. What seems to be the matter?" The old maybe 50 or something woman woke up to her soft shrugs.

"We have a new occupant today, this one's a special one!" Alicia gave him the best impression to the one she called Nanna.

The older woman straightens her glasses and sizes him top to bottom.

"For the physical aspect I can't say I'm impressed, but for you to call him special means he really has some kind of quality other than strength." The older woman said bluntly.

Horus was a little irritated that this old woman who had only just met him was already bad mouthing him, but his expression failed to show it.

"Horus, this is Nanna Lee. She is in-charge of the base logistics and weapon procurements, since the bunks fall under the armory naturally come under her control. She's the one who will issue you with all the equipment you need on your missions and training."

"So she's the hidden power behind the base then."

"Oh? I'm starting to like this kid already. But tell me why do you think that is the case?"

"No army, no organization can run without logistics to fuel their function. Logistics can decide who gets more and who gets less, no war can run without a proper logistic chain either." He said everything he remembered from an edition of the Art of War in his possession.

"So you know who not to offend while you're in this organization, smart boy! Allow me to properly introduce myself. I'm Lee Hye Gi, I've been in XCOM even before this young lady was born. I was and still am a senior staff officer in it."

"So how shall I call you then, not Nanna I presume?"

The older woman laughed and Alicia blushed slightly.

"No no no! This child has given you the wrong impression, no one else calls me Nanna except her! I've raised her since she was an infant in place of her mother and father."

"Then can I call you Madam Lee?"

"Oh? Do I look like a madam to you?" She answered sharply, most would think she had been offended but Horus was thinking otherwise.

"There's this air of nobility around you, you control the flow of resources throughout this base and you raised Alicia since she was a baby. I think you've earned the title Madam more than enough."

"I see…. It this why he's so special to you, my dear?" She turned to Alicia.

"That and more, much more. Bradford see hopes that he'll become a specialist in the field. He's proven to all of us that he's more than capable of taking up this job. Lily is going to have a new rival soon."

"Alright then, if that is the case then welcome to the family. Let me get my minions to gather all the necessities you need for you stay, and Alicia."

Madam Lee took out a key card from her porch and handed it to Alicia.

"Have him settle in the one-man quarter, 038."

Alicia took the keycard and pulled Horus's hand to follow excitedly. "Come on!"

Madam Lee watched them go. "(sigh) it's good to be young!"

* * *

Alicia led him by his hand through the corridors of the deck.

"You seem to have left quite an impression on Nanna as well!"

"Really? At least I didn't give her a bad impression of me or wrongfully offend her."

"It must be! If not she wouldn't have given you a room to yourself, normally recruits shared a bunk in the communal area. Even private quarters are only something a commission officer on deck is entitled to, so does that put things into context for you?" She showed him that meaningful smile again, he really liked it. It felt like it suited her and could brighten one's day just by getting a glimpse of it.

"Doesn't that mean she expects me to perform at the level of a commissioned officer then?"

His alternate views towards others impressions always left a sour taste to his conversations with others, but Alicia didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, her eye brows twitched with excitement as if she were a child learning something new for the first time.

Room 038 was right before them, Alicia swiped her keycard through the slot on the side and a metal click indicated the mechanism unlocking.

The room was small but enough to fit proper furnishings like a single mattress, a desk and a cabinet for storing clothes and equipment.

"I know I should be grateful but I have a sudden feeling of claustrophobia." He announced.

Alicia sat on his new bed.

"Don't you have some Officer things to be doing?" He reminded her.

"Heather will take care of it for me, so I have the whole day to relax."

Poor Heather, she had risked her life in the field, even nearly lost it and now her superior was unjustly overworking her for her own convenience.

"Well then, I know which Unit I should avoid going to. Seeing as you work your subordinates like slaves."

Alicia pouted at his remark, but her brief frown and pout turned into a grin and smirk.

"You won't have any say in the matter, because you'll belong to my team when your done training!"

"Really?"

"Really, we bid for the recruits on a rotation, this time it's my turn to pick my first choice so strap yourself tight. Because I'm going to ride you like a horse!"

"That can be taken in so many wrong ways."

Alicia realized her mistake and blushed heavily.

"Ah!- No! I meant work not ride…..argh!"  
Horus laughed unconsciously at her blunder, it just came out naturally. Alicia was genuinely surprised, because it was a true laugh and smile instead of that disturbing on he wore back in the city square.

"I didn't know you could smile like that!"

"Neither did I, maybe it's because I haven't smiled in such a long time, maybe!"

Alicia got up from the bed and headed to the door.

"I'll let you get settled in first, you're probably tired after such a long day. I'll pick you up in the morning tomorrow, goodnight!"

"Alicia…."

"Yes?"

"Thanks for everything."

She showed him her signature smile before leaving his new room.

* * *

Madam Lee handed him his equipment right after Alicia left along with a list on how to court a girl, she winked at him before leaving herself.

For a rogue organization they were sure well equipped. He had expected that he would receive second-hand equipment and uniforms but they were all brand new. He started to wonder, was XCOM receiving help from a sponsor, it only made sense seeing the clothing were of the same quality as those in the cities clothing stores. He lifted the assault rifle that he was issued and placed it in the cabinet, he wasn't sure about the technical aspect of the weapon so he wouldn't fiddle around with it yet. He hung his set of uniforms and combat fatigues in the cabinet and began sorting out his place. The real benefit of a private quarter was that it had its own personal bathroom, a luxury few had that even he didn't back in the city. He swore to himself that he would work for these benefits, after all the one thing he hate was owing someone else.

The next morning, he woke up early a 4am to have time to explore the place. No one had shown him around so he had to venture on his own free time. Alicia would mean him at 6 to have breakfast before he entered the training school.

The corridors were quiet and all that could be heard was the tapping of his footsteps echoing against the unusual metallic floors, he wasn't sure what type of alloy it was but it felt thin yet sturdy. Almost like he was in a carapace of an insect and this was the entire structure and material throughout the facility.

He was lost.

There were no maps nor working staff walking around at this time so he was stuck, he could see a bright light at the end of the corridor and decided to start there. It turned out to be an over watching balcony that looked at the outside of the facility, the forest lay beneath and beyond. But the truly most outstanding thing present was the sun rise, he checked his watch on the data pad. He had never encountered such an early sunrise.

"Whose there!" A sharp tone rung out in front of him. He used his hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun and made out a human figure leaning against the railings to the balcony.

"Good morning!" He greeted.

"Uh!- Good morning! I've not seen you before."

"I'm new here. Just got pulled out from Adelaide yesterday, so I'm unfamiliar with the place."

"Do you normally wake up this early?" He was rather early even for a revelry.

"Do you wake up during this time?" He asked back.

"Of course not, I just didn't sleep that's all!" She replied in her ever sharp tone.

Horus walked closer and could now see her features.

Short to the shoulders black raven hair and sharp features on her face, if in another time she would have been a model. Asian in decent, and still looked striking for any foreigner he guessed.

"What?" She noticed his eyes on her.

"Is this base full of gorgeous woman?"

"W-what?! Are you trying to make fun of me?" She snapped at him.

"No." His look was too serious to be making fun of her.

"I see, sorry for being too defensive." She quickly apologized.

"What's your name?" She asked as he leaned against the railings looking into the forest.

"Horus. Today I'll be taking up training to become an XCOM combatant." He answered honestly.

"A combatant? You don't have the build of one, sorry for being so blunt!" She apologized again due to being unconvinced he was one.

"I don't blame you, fight is just secondary to me. I plan to provide those on the field with technical support."

"So your aiming to be a specialist then?"

"Is that the name of the job category?"

"I'm surprised how in lack you are of information pertaining to your job description, listen carefully. There are four jobs applicable for you within the combatants' area of expertise. They are Ranger, Grenadier, Sharpshooter and the job your gunning for, Specialist.

Ranger deals in assault and direct attacks and silent ambushes. Grenadier carries heavy weapons to provide high volumes of firepower. Sharpshooters are precision marksman task with picking off high value targets. Specialists are involved in providing medical assistance or supporting advances, there are also not many who can perform tasks like hacking the ADVENT network or providing electronic counter measures for the team."

"Thanks for the heads up, I happen to know a thing about programming so I might fall into the specialist category."

"Really? Then I'm actually quite fortunate to come into contact with you, you see I'm looking for a specialist that might help me in that field. You interested in working for me then?"

"I hate to blow your parade but you'll have to sort that out with Lieutenant Hunor."

As he mentioned Alicia the smile on the woman's face turned into a frown. Was there some sort of internal dispute between these two?

The woman looked deep into his eyes and smirked.

"You know if you being force into her group I can tell you you're free to join mine, I can assure you special privileges."

She leaned against his body.

"Special means exclusive treatment no one else might get you know." She informed seductively.

He politely pushed her back and gave a reply.

"I'll keep a rain check on that. But there are a lot of things I've yet to learn about this place so I'm not going to answer in the heat of the moment."

The woman seemed satisfied with his answer.

"So if I do look to join your group how will I call the name of my leader?"

"To others, it will be Lieutenant Yoshikawa but in private it should be Tsukuyo. Remember that!"

She waved him off.

"When did I say I was leaving!" He turned back to the sunrise. She let off a light laugh at his care free attitude and leaned on the railings next to him watching the sunrise together.

* * *

Alicia was up and already walking towards his room. "Hey!" He called out from behind her, she turned around to greet him.

"Didn't think you'd be up this early, where did you go?"

"It's my first day on the job so I can't oversleep, I took a stroll around the place and saw some interesting venues."

"That's nice to hear, you should have let me take you around!"

"When did you have so much time to take me around?"

"I'll have you know, Central expects much from you. I'm merely ensuring that his investment and mine comes on top."

"So your using me as an excuse to ditch work." Alicia stuck out her tongue confirming his thoughts.

The mess hall was quite large and again, the variety of food made Horus wonder who was so bold as to sponsor this rogue organization with all these goodies.

Horus had been to one of the old cities before on a school trip with armed ADVENT guards, the condition of those 'Havens' were such that living tomorrow was already a blessing. Though the word was used to describe communities that weren't regulated by the administration, which included both slums and the slightly better off true 'havens' which have power supply, clean water and crops.

"I have a question?" She asked while munching on her food.

"Go on."

"What do those ADVENT burgers taste like?"

"That's got to be the hottest topic here am I right?" She nodded in his reply.

"I've only had two my entire life. When you compare it with the burger from a food joint in the old world they're miles apart. Is it the method of frying through some sort of chemical flame, the alien spices used to marinate the meat, who knows?"

Alicia seemed to think highly of them.

"Then it made me wonder, what was used for the meat?"

"Huh?"

"In my 20 years of living in several cities and several rural settlements I've never seen a single livestock nor any processing plant. The nutrition values on the burger wrapper say the calories and protein levels but never the ingredients. And that's the reason I stopped having them."

As if coming to an epiphany she held her mouth as if she was holding back puking.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't a good subject to talk about during meals." Horus said as he patted her on the back.

"Finally! Somebody dares to question those ADVENT burgers and the back story behind them, absolutely marvelous!" A voice boomed behind them.

A short haired woman sat uninvited next to him.

"Say! What's it like in those ADVENT controlled cities?" She asked with vigor.

"Lily?... Morning." Alicia greeted when she had more a less recovered from her nausea.

"Morning, Alicia!" She said back casually and then turned her attention to Horus.

Horus had been thinking, this was the person who did that shitty job on the holo-globe.

"Well, what's it like?"

Horus thought for a moment, the other day Bradford had mentioned scary things about her, like the drone army that would chase him. Perhaps this was the god given chance he needed to set a good impression of himself before unloading the bomb that was his name.

"It's safe and secure, the one thing any person would look for when finding a home for himself and his family. If you register into the city, they're all sorts of benefits that you can get, free dental and health care, not to mention surgeries and treatment with a 100% success rate. Schools are free and Academies sponsor your studies, internship is guaranteed. Adding all these into the equation and more, anyone would forego some form of freedom to attain these sort of luxuries that you couldn't get anywhere in the world, and quite literally."

"Mhm! Mhm! That was the shortest summary I've ever heard while still holding all the important details about the habitat! Have you considered working with me in Engineering? Oh by the way! I didn't get your name! You probably already know who I am, right?" There was not even a single pause in her sentence, she was literally a speaking machine gun, belt-fed.

"My names Horus, and I'm currently training to be a combatant." The moment of truth.

"Oh! In the combatants, that's a shame- wait! Did you just say Horus?"

"Yes, the names Horus."

"Ahhhhh! You're that snitch Central said was trying to pinch my job!"

Her outburst caused Alicia to silently giggle again.

"I honestly have no idea what kind of tall tale Central told you! I can assure you it was a mere joke!"

She crossed her arms.

"Oh really! Elementary programming?"

"Arghhh!" He couldn't get himself out of this one, that was exactly what he had said to Central word for word. He turned to Alicia but she turned away from him giggling at his demise, she truly was a selfish girl.

"I'll have you know, that I had other busy things to settle, so sorting out Bradford's glittering globe was the last on the list!"

"Couldn't you have just not touch it then if that's the case?"

"I-….That-….that's just because-….urghhh! It's my muse! I have a working ethic of multi-tasking my way to completing all the jobs at once!" She scrounged up an excuse.

"Judging from the program, you are still pretty far away from completing any of them!" He was done for anyway so he might as well get it off his chest.

Lily had an outburst like a raving chimpanzee and blabbered out many profanities at him while he continued eating because he realized he really didn't care what she said any longer.

"Hey! Don't just ignore me and go back to eating! We're not done yet!"

"I'll come by to help when I have the free time." As he said this, Lily suddenly quieten down. Everyone else in the mess sighed in relief.

"…..What?"

"You're in that situation because you lack manpower, so I'll help when I can."

"What, really? You'd ready do that?" She transitioned back to her original attitude.

"You need to swear on your dignity as a man!"

"Why do I have to do that?!"

"Whatever, just swear! And if not…. you'll be castrated!"

""Pfftttttttt"" It wasn't just Horus but also Alicia who spat out their food when she said that.

The contrast between the mannerism of Lily he was looking at and the one the Central mentioned, these two images of Lily started to merge into one terrifying monster. And there was not much he could do to stop her.

"When do you need help?" He sighed miserably.

"Swear!" She insisted.

"Ok! It seems that I'll just take back what I said about helping you."

"What, why?!"

"Talking about castrating someone is no funny matter in any given society!"

"Ok, fine! Then at least do I have your word-."

"You have it!" He didn't want to argue anymore, he had a long day ahead and he was already getting exhausted talking and expending energy to keep up with her.

"Great! I'll wait till you've finished your training course in a week's time then we'll talk about my latest build, my battlefield drone assistant project!"

"(sigh) I'm going to get some more coffee."


	3. Chapter 3 - It's a trap!

The recruitment pool was so shockingly small, it felt like the participants were here to take up a cooking course. There were only 10, but already there were huge dissimilarities between Horus and them. One of the most obvious differences was the physique, yesterday when Madam Lee looked down on his build she wasn't laughing at him but saying that as a fact.

An old man walked along the row of recruits standing at attention. "I am your course instructor Larry Fields, from this moment you will address me as sir, am I clear Maggots?!"

"""Sir, yes sir!""" It seemed like a very cliché following so he just abided by it.

"A little bit about myself, I have been training and qualifying recruits since the early days of XCOM! de Winters, McMillard, Delgado, you name it! But now Central asks me to train prepubescent brats in a matter of one week, he's got to be shitting me!"

Fields? So he was somehow related to Heather then, father or an uncle.

"But he is my superior officer, so whatever he tells me to do I do because that's what makes a good soldier. I have one week gentlemen, one week! To turn you from Maggot to qualifying combatant! Even the old XCOM would weep manly tears if you graduate from my course and only if you graduate!"

He may have been old but his motor skills certainly didn't show it through the way he walked and spoke.

"I can give you a hint, I think not everyone will make it out of the hellish one week I've set aside of you maggots."

The stood right in front of Horus, staring into his eyes.

"What's your name scumbag?"

"Horus, sir. Just Horus!"

"Oh? So you're the little runt who my darling little girl's been talking about recently. Tell me, do you want to come home and fuck her in my house?" The instructor punched him in the gut and he knelt on the ground holding his stomach.

"Get up, Maggot! Because I know you spend time with my darling daughter I will be hard on you thrice fold so that I can make a son-in-law out of you yet! I said get up!"

To be honest, it wasn't as bad as the beatings he had at high school when the union began bullying him. Because of them no one really wanted to be associated to him, so he spent his schooling in solace. He quickly got up like he was told to, he wasn't sure what Heather had been talking to the instructor about him but he guessed he was going to be treated harshly to make it clear later it was not nepotism. Because if he knew Heather, a decorated veteran in the combatants' others would think he pulled strings to get here. So to protect himself, his daughter and Horus he had to be harsher on him in training. Which worked out fine for Horus, he believed this would help him build up on strength and combat skills faster than the rest.

"Right! I'll leave you maggots alone while I get you day ready!" He walked out of the Armory where they were to be trained.

The recruits started to mingle amongst each other. Horus joined in.

"Hi, I'm Horus. Nice to meet you!"

"Yo! I'm Chris Holt, that was some bad luck to happen to you on the first day, respect man!" A tall beanie wearing man shook his hand.

"Any plans on which role you wanna take at the end?"

"Mostly gunning for specialist due to my major..."

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Chris! What's up with not introducing me. Hi, Horus! Stephanie McGuinness, I'm Chris's childhood friend from the same Haven in Belfast. Where were you from?"

A curly redhead hung on Chris and Horus with both arms, attempting to physically bind them both.

"They found me in Adelaide."

"Hmm. I didn't know there be a Haven near the ADVENT city."

"I meant they found me from the city."

"What?! Really? You're from the cities? What's it like there, are there really Amphitheaters and concerts held in there?"

This girl seemed to be into arts and music.

"Oh? What's a city dweller doing all the way here? Did you think this was a vigilante organization?"

Horus didn't turn around to meet the rude comment at all and instead answered Stephanie's query.

"Oi! Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

He merely glanced over his shoulder to see who was making the racket in calling him. It was a group of men led by and ikeman looking fellow.

"Will you please pipe down! I'm trying to explain something to a friend here!" Horus told the pretty boy.

"Careful Horus, that's the son of de Winter. There'll be consequences for offending him." Steph warned him.

"I've no idea who that is. So I'd might as well do all the offending I want." He said casually to the childhood friends. To which they looked concerned.

"You need to understand that down here there's a hierarchy that needs to be abided by and as the one on the top I expect you to obey me!"

"Have you considered acting?" Horus's random question cooled off the tension in an instant.

"Acting?"

"Yeah, acting! You seem to pulling it off pretty well right now, or maybe you should consider comedy if it doesn't work for you, if you get my meaning." He mocked the man's display of authority and some of his henchmen also held back on laughing.

"Quiet you! You really have the gall to go up against me, do you know who i am?"

"Not a clue."

"I am Lucius de Winter, son of Karl de Winter! A Bavarian aristocrat and a decorated XCOM combatant so if you know the scale of who you're dealing with then you'd better show that you understand! Apologize!"

"Seriously, I haven't the slightest clue who fuck is that kraut and what his contributions are to XCOM. I'm just a wanted terrorist to ADVENT who's trying to fit in with everyone here."

This Lucius fellow looked stunned or more like he was frightened at his declaration, whatever his impressions were of terrorists it wasn't something he could not hide his fear of. Technically, Horus was labelled a terrorist for cyber hacking classified material belonging to the state so he still fell under the category.

He actually fell on his back, Horus just found a new playmate to vent all his frustration he'd been getting from Lily and Alicia. He unconsciously let out that disturbing smile from his delight, dread came over Lucius and his followers upon seeing his malicious grin.

"H-hiiieee!"

Just then, Instructor Fields returned from sorting out some paperwork and came to witness Lucius on the floor in front of Horus.

"Sir! What the hell is this terrorist doing in our organization?!"

"Terrorist? I haven't the slightest fucking idea what the hell you are talking about Winters jr.!"

"But, sir! Wait, my name's not winters it's-"

"I know what you fucking name is and what isn't maggot! I called your dad Winters so I'll you Winters jr. out of respect for your old man. Unless you want me to call you Sally instead."

"No, sir. That name is fine!" He got up and straightened himself.

Right! Go to the armskort and retrieve the weapons I've requisitioned, on the double! Move!"

The recruits doubled to retrieve the arms from the armorer.

The weapons consisted of two of each weapon. An assault rifle, shotgun, precision rifle, revolver, some sort of Gatling with a pistol grip Horus wasn't sure about and a grenade launcher with a cylinder. Today they were to do weapons familiarization, he instantly found favor in the assault rifle. It was the most versatile and the easiest to handle and clean, nor did it weigh heavy like the Gatling or the high-powered precision rifle. He was aware he would be carrying tech to the field as well so carrying something light was always good.

Lucius and the other guys seemed to understand the technical aspect of the weapons beforehand, they probably had more exposure to the weapons out on the Havens carried by the guards and all. For Horus it was the first time, or so he thought. He had only handled the weapon once that was during his rescue but the weapon seemed easy to understand in theory and practice. It was like he had handled them before, it honestly bothered him.

He helped out his new friends on weapons handling as well as Lucius but the boy was too afraid of him as he willingly smiled while suggesting he would help him in understanding the technical data. Horus found it to be amusing.

And just like that the day ended. It made very one wonder what was so stressful about one week of training, everything seemed to be moving at a slow pace. But this was all part of the illusion Instructor Fields had set. The next morning at 3 o'clock he doused them each with water to wake them up and forced them to do a rigorous physical training regime. Running on the roof of the facility till the sun broke. Most of the men and women dropped against the deck panting except for Horus. He had been running at a consistent pace and regulated his breathing, turns out Steph and Chris were no different, the same could be said for Lucius but that was because of his physical prowess. Also he was trying to show off to Steph as his eyes were caught by her fiery hair and pretty features but also those emerald eyes.

He still kept a distance because Horus was in between.

Breakfast came in the form of hot pockets delivered to them while they continued to train, breakfast had never so good after working for it. After which they began close combat training.

"Ready when you are." Horus announced to Steph while holding his dummy knife.

"Ready, come at me!"

Horus thruster the knife at her lower abdomen, she moved back and locked his wrists in an instant. Chris clapped from far away while training with another guy. Moments later, Horus was on the floor with his arm at his back and held down by Steph. "I give up!" He swore she nearly snapped his arm. He knew that in the close combat specialty he was below average, he'd have to spend more time training on it after hours.

"Hehe! Better luck next time, eh? I think you should focus of the person more than the weapon, buddy!" Steph advised him.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"Oh this? That's a family clan martial art passed down from McGuiness to McGuiness. Get this! It was developed by our ancestors to win in a barfight!" It sounded noble until the point where she mentioned it's intended purpose.

"At least I know who not to go without on a trip to the bar then!"

Steph laughed at his remark but she held out a thumbs up. "That'll be fine, but it'll cost ya!"

A whole day went by with the recruits practicing their fighting skills with and without blades. "Hey! Wanna hang out? Steph found this cool place near the officers' room." Chris invited but he declined.

"Another time, Chris!"

Chris nodded and left with a group of them out of the armory leaving him the only one left. He continued to memorize the strokes and the way the body could contort once in motion. Practicing a few swings with the dummy knife in thrusts and slashes. This continued on till it was 11 in the night, he spent five hours of self-training but he had a much clearer understanding of unarmed combat and knife dueling. He wondered what his new found discoveries would leave on Chris and Steph and the others on his improved close combat competency.

"Did think there was anyone who would care about lessons as seriously as you do."

Horus turned around to see who spoke, it was Instructor Fields. "Sir..."

"At ease son, call me Fields when you not having lessons, still. This actually brings back memories of two such people who trained and performed other tasks while always going the extra mile."

"I'm not going the extra mile, I'm just acknowledging that if I were to apply these skills in real life i might lose my life or someone else's."

"A pragmatic answer if I ever heard on. There really is a resemblance between you and them."

He didn't like the way Instructor fields was emphasizing a comparison of one of his traits to some other people, but this was merely because Fields wanted to talk about it and tell him an old man story which he would probably fall asleep to.

"There are three billion people on the planet so far so it wouldn't be surprising if I mirror at least a hundred in similar traits."

"... Heather wasn't kidding about the praise issue you had." The instructor was now laughing at him.

"You said you've been in XCOM since the beginning, what was the old XCOM like?" This was a chance to find out about this organization's history once and for all, no ADVENT propaganda spam box shall filter out the truth from this senior member's own experience.

Fields took out a smoking pipe and some matches.

"No smoking in the building."

"Damn it kid! Give me a break!"

Horus returned the equipment that they had taken out to practice and followed Fields to the roof where he was free to light his pipe for a smoke. Then he began his story.

"We were the vanguard of humanity against the invasion, our sponsor was the council of nations, an international organization consisting of member nations taking part in collaborations to solve world crisis.

Initially we had a rough start, the kill ratio was 5:2 that's 5 of us for 2 of them. But we had one of the greatest minds of the planet. Dr Vahlen and Dr Raymond Shen, Lily's late father. They studied the aliens and their weaknesses, reverse engineering their tech into ours. And building more advances to the base in Mont Blanc.

But the real might of XCOM lay with the combatants, after all it was they who fought the aliens and those traitors if I may add.

Then, we received word that the council had lost faith in us. If that were just the case, we would have just disbanded but instead they sold us out!"

Larry became visibly angry just by thinking about it his knuckles turned white from clenching, he smoked his pipe to calm his nerves.

"The council gave away our base coordinates to the aliens as a part of a 'peace offering' if you will to them. The aliens assaulted our base and the Commander was kidnapped, we never saw him again! Damn! If the vanguard were there that siege would have been easily handled! So what happened next was the remaining XCOM members faded into the background or joined the cities, some of them still harbor ill will to the aliens and are preparing for the day the whole world rebels, and that's the basic history of the present XCOM."

So XCOM had been sold out by the council for a conditional peace. They probably feared that XCOM would drag down the entire human race to extinction.

"So who's the sponsor now?"

"Sorry?"

"Last time XCOM was funded by the council and their member nations, even if it's a fraction of a nations GDP that's still a lot of funding for any organization. So who's our present sponsor, who would dare risk their asses to support the operation of a rogue organization?"

"As much as I would like to tell you, I'll have to say you're not entitled to know for their own safety… at least in your current status in XCOM."

"Figures, I'm turning in for the night!"

"What? Not interested in any other stories? You're just going to leave an old man outside hanging?"

"Your only old when you feel like being old, so your point is invalid, Goodnight Instructor!"

"Goodnight, rascal!" He took a strong puff of his pipe.

* * *

He had been lying against a large boulder completely worn out, Instructor Fields forced them to trek 50 miles across the forest back to the base after being dropped by Firebrand in the middle of nowhere.

"I'll be waiting at the base for you, when you arrive then I'll mark you as finish." Was what Fields said before pushing them off the Skyranger.

He had been accompanied by the rest because they couldn't understand mapping and trekking without a GPS or inert navigation.

"And they call me the city dweller!" He cursed under his teeth.

"Who much further Horus, my legs are killing me!" Lucius complained on behalf of everyone else.

"Do you want to navigate instead?" He passed the compass to him.

Lucius and the rest held out their hands up high saying no thanks. "That's what I thought, dumbasses…"

"Oh Yeah!... And I've been asking around! You're no terrorist, you were a fugitive of ADVENT for hacking!" He said with all his resentment for him.

"Took you long enough to find out dumbass! But I'm still technically a terrorist of the cyber warfare category." Horus teased him for his naivety.

Horus ignored him and continued navigating through the forest.

"Where did you learn to do navigating, Horus?" Chris asked.

"Hmm? From my parents, from a camping trip we once went out on."

"Eh? That must've been fun! Perhaps I should learn it from you parents sometime soon!" Added Steph.

"…. I don't think that'll be possible, they've been missing for almost 20 years."

"But that would have meant-!"

Stephanie realized what a terrible mistake she made, Horus bent his head to conceal the pain of two decades of loneliness.

"I- I'm sorry! I did mean to-…."

He knew she was ignorant of his family's affairs so this really couldn't be helped so he just waved his hand and forced a smile to say it was fine.

It wasn't long before the dark metallic top of the base could be seen from far away.

"It's there! Great job, shrimp! Right! Last one there washes the bathroom!" Lucius declared before running ahead.

"Hey! That's not fair!"

"Who cares, just don't be last!"

The rest ran after him back to the base. Chris and Stephanie were about to do the same.

"Hold it, you two!"

"What seems to be the problem? At this rate, we'll be the last ones!" Chris urged him.

"Calm your nerves, Chris! When has Instructor Larry ever made things easy for us! He sent us out into the wilderness to track back and made us carry full gear with loaded rifles, well paintball at least."

"Isn't it just to simulate realism?"

"Like he said, one week to train all of us is preposterous. Physical aspect of a soldier is important but so is the mental strength. He probably predicted that we'd get excited after spotting the base from afar and get careless while running to the base like complete idiots. He probably lay a trap for us to fall into somewhere ahead."

The faces of the two became grave. "So what do we do?"

"Let's treat this like a recon scenario. Move in through heavy foliage to reduce visibility, we'll treat this as infiltrating enemy territory."

"Ok!"

"Sounds reasonable."

They formed a three-man formation learned previously from their evening lessons. "Shall we load weapons?"

"Paintball only, we don't want to hurt anybody."

After some cautious maneuvering, they reached the end of a cliff, below in the valley there was not trees or bushes to conceal the length to the base. Worst was the rest of the recruits were nowhere to be seen.

Steph thought it was a false alarm and was about to breath concealment, but Horus pulled her down quickly.

"Hey!"

"Look." He pointed to a place where a large tree dominated the plain. The greens blocked visibility of whatever was under it from their high elevation.

An armed combatant walked out from under the large tree to observe the surroundings.

"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle! You were right!" Chris peered through the binoculars to confirm that the man wasn't one of the recruits.

"But what if it's just an armed patrol from the bases protection detail?"

He had to hand it to her, that could also be the case.

"Let's get closer to get a better look, I still believe it's not the case. If I'm wrong I'll take responsibility for cleaning the communal bathroom."

They couldn't disagree to that so they followed him a little bit longer his way.

After much crawling through the dirt the managed to get a hundred metres from the shading tree, peering through his binoculars Chris once again confirmed his findings. Three men accompanied Instructor Fields beneath the shade the tree with the recruits rounded up with their weapons confiscated.

"I'm sorry I doubted you." Steph said, she was rather pissed at him for a while for pulling her down into the dirt at the cliff.

"So now what? We're heavily outmatched and outnumbered."

"Inventory."

He took out his kit to inspect what devices were in his possession to allow the overpowering of Fields. The two did the same.

"So what do you intend to do?"

"Subdue Fields"

Steph and Chris looked stunned at his declaration.

"We aren't distracting them to bypass them to get to the base?"

"And leave the rest behind? If this was real life would you do the same thing!" Horus's words struck Steph like a brick.

"N- No! I'll never leave anyone behind for my own safety!"

"That's good to hear."

Horus observed the kit laid out. "three smokes, three thirty round magazines of paintball, a flashbang and two flares."

"Plan?"

"We should wait till nightfall or at least dusk where the light dims and reduces visibility."

"Is that necessary?"

"There is a hundred metres of nothing to their location and four highly trained individuals loaded with paintball most likely. We don't have enough munitions, it was supposed to be a ten-man effort but Winters jr. really fucked it!"

Seeing Horus angry for the first time wasn't something they wanted to bring out again in future.

"We're with you on this one all the way so what are your orders!" Steph encouraged them.

Horus whispered his plan to them. "Take a nap, I'll call you when it gets dark."

* * *

The three combatants from the reserve called up by Fields to apprehend his recruits were restless, they too had gone through the grueling process of being captured by their predecessors during their recruit days. Now it was these recruits turn to feel the wrath of Fields and his punishment for being complacent in their efforts. Night was falling soon, and the area became darker.

Lucius felt utterly shameful of what he had done, he'd compromised everyone with him through his stunt. He had shamed the name de Winter. It wasn't long before they would look at him with ire in the future but there really wasn't anything he could do because what's done was done.

"Chief, you sure those brats didn't get lost?" One of the combatants asked but Fields remained quick as he was still assessing them, the remaining three had not returned yet. But he had a feeling that they wouldn't let him down, he was about to get an exciting show.

"Oi! Brat! Where the hell are your friends?"

"How should I know, they were the ones who navigated for the rest of us, there's no way they could get lost!" One of the recruits confessed to the combatant.

"What?! Rhein, Bean! Stay frosty, they should be coming at any moment!" The combatant had a bad feeling about the recruits coming to surprise them.

Just as he said it a flare popped out from the darkness and illuminated the surrounding sky.

"Eyes peeled! They're here!" Fields who was still assessing sat back against the tree trunk smiling.

Rifle fire muzzle flash came from a bush not too far in front of them. The combatants pointed their weapons and fired to suppress while converging on the location. When they reached they found only a slung rifle with ropes and branches, it was just a diversion.

(Pak) (Pak) One of combatants were hit with paint on their clothing signifying a kill.

"Fuck! Bean, grenade!" The combatant said as he laid heavy fire on the location of the shot.

"Grenade!" The Bean fellow threw his primed paint grenade.

"Ouch!" Chris stood up from cover with his hands raised, he had been 'killed' and walked to the rest of the recruits and Fields were. "Sorry guys, it's up to you now!"

"That's one Jim! Two more!"

As they continued their automatic fire, smoke began to creep in on their position concealing them from each other even. Steph and Horus had used the smoke grenades to close the gap.

Horus and Stephanie rushed through the smoke to take out each of the last combatants. Stephanie clashed with the Jim fellow and Horus with Bean. He jumped aside as Bean fired at his former position and fired his gun at Bean and had a lucky graze on his shoulder, Bean raised his hands that he was killed.

"Owww!" Stephanie was shot after failing to bring down Jim with her close combat skills

Now it was just Horus and Jim, the two faced each other in a stand-off with their guns raised. (Click) (Click) Coincidentally both men's rifles were empty. Horus dropped his rifle and pulled out his knife and took a stance at Jim.

Stephanie rejoined the recruits and Fields in watching the show and spoke up.

"This is bad!"

The others turned to Steph, some knew why while others waited for her explanation.

"His close combat skills aren't really the best, and that guy beat me as well." The oblivious recruits now knew what this meant. Horus was fated to lose.

Jim looked at Horus with a malicious grin and drew his own knife, he could not ask for a better situation than this. Because close combat was his specialty as a Ranger, the brat in front of him wasn't as largely built and he was far too early to beat him at his own game.

Horus saw the situation he was in and that emotion came over him, everything he had faced some sort of adversity it would always trigger off so he let it out naturally.

Horus released his devilish smile upon his own poor existence.

Jim felt a little troubled by the youth's expression, initially he thought he had the upper hand but this kids smile was unnerving, he felt like he was the one in danger.

Jim thrusted his knife and the next action took everyone watching by surprise.

Horus threw his knife.

Jim was also astounded and was two minds on whether to continue or retract his knife as it was at the moment where his momentum was pushing him forward.

Horus grabbed his wrist and twisted while lying on his back and pressing his leg against Jim flinging him in the air. Jim landed on the floor with the knife out of his hand, Horus stood over him and pushed Jim's hand to his back effectively pinning him to the floor. Horus picked up the knife on the floor near him and pressed it on Jim's neck.

"I give up! You win kid!" Jim declared and Horus released his grip and pulled him up.

The recruits cheered for him and their victory. Horus was focused on something else and picked up a fallen rifle and inspected the chamber and magazine.

"Alright folks! That's all there is to the show, come on! Let's head back while supper's still hot!" Fields said as he led the group back. Everyone was on a good note and picked up the fallen weapons, ready to leave.

(Pak) The sound of a paintball bursting against someone's body was heard everyone was stunned and looked up.

Instructor Fields shirt was stained with a shot and everyone tracked the trajectory which came from the gun Horus was holding pointed at Fields.

"Horus! What the hell!" Chris was shocked by Horus's action.

But Horus, still smiling said to Fields. "Who ever said you weren't part of the group ambush!"

Fields blank stare turned into a smile and he applauded, which caused the recruits to be confused as to what was going on.

"To the least perceptive of you, no one ever questioned my being here. I never said I would assess you here, only that I'll meet you at the base. Recruit Horus has demonstrated focus in the task at hand and perceptiveness in the obvious."

Chris sigh in relief as he was initially worried Horus had done something incredibly stupid.

"I hope you all learn from your mistakes and use this as an example in your exploits, the battlefield won't be so kind as it is here! Right, let's head back. Jim, take point. The rest of you, your excused from my punishment because you didn't lose in the end."

A sigh of relief overcame the recruits and the buzzed amongst themselves about the unexpected victory.

Hello, I'm the one who secured this victory. Where's my fucking parade?!

A hand rested on his shoulder and he turned around.

"That was an impressive show, I almost don't feel bad about losing. Have you ever considered becoming a ranger?"

Jim was now trying to recruit him to take up the ranger class and join their fraternity.

"I already have my eyes on something else, sorry to disappoint."

"Man! That's a shame, we were looking for someone with a knack for stealth during clandestine missions. Still, if you change your mind, just look for me and I'll introduce you to the works."

Horus nodded in understanding, satisfied he left him to take point. Chris and Steph closed their distance after seeing Jim leave.

"Where did you learn to fight like that? That's not what I recall you doing in practice."

"Was it during the afterhours practice, I remember you turned us down on that trip to the mess bar."

"That was partly it, but it was only a revision of what Steph did on me."

"Me?"

"Yes, I was watching your moves when I was fighting with you and replicated it during the after hour practice. So it's fair to say if it hadn't been for you we would have never gained this victory, Thanks Steph!"

"O-Oh!..." Steph began to blush.

"Come on, just accept the praise this once, Steph!" Chris tugged her.

"Shut up, idiot!"

In the Commander's Office where Bradford sat a screen was displaying the events of unscheduled war game for the fire team commanders to see. Lily's drones were watching the Recruit's movements via surveillance. Alicia smiled at the success of her future Specialist, but she wasn't the only one with their eyes on Horus. Tsukuyo licked her lips in satisfaction that the Recruit she wanted didn't disappoint her at all.

"Well that just sums it up, I hope you've found the recruits' performance to be adequate. I'll wish you all the best on the bidding." Bradford said.

"Wait! Wasn't this a rotation for recruits this time around?! I should have the right to the first recruit of my choice, right?!" Alicia asked frantically.

"Oh don't be such a spoil sport, Alicia! This time around, everyone has a fair chance at getting new rookies, I happen to have my eyes on one right now!" Tsukuyo told her.

"This batch holds a very special surprise amongst the recruits, there is one who has an expertise in cyber intrusion among the ten. I'll let you guess who it is." Bradford played this kind of game to keep his commanders on their heels, one which he thoroughly enjoyed doing during his term. He couldn't enjoy these things when a certain someone had kept him on his heels every time he reported to him, but that was in the past.

"But-….But-….My right…." Alicia cried to herself miserably.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I've found doing this story to be very theraputic and that makes me glad. For the people who read XCOM: Conquest don't worry, that story takes priority over this one.**


	4. Chapter 4 - Legacy of Martin Hunor

**Addicted to doing more chapters, i just can't help it so i'll do a few more before shifting attention to the main storyline.**

* * *

The days went by and Horus was getting more familiar with the craft of a combatant he spent extra time picking up the know how of the other special classes of soldier to better understand their work when in the field with one.

Chris and Steph seemed to be fired up after that day they had a surprise test, they too spent hours diligently reading up and practicing on their learned skills. Both of them had more a less figured out what they wanted to do. Chris would be a sharpshooter due to his terrific eye sight and spotting ability, Stephanie felt more inclined to take up the Ranger course after graduating into a rookie. That's right, after graduation there were class courses from the guerilla tactics school for your specific class.

Horus was the only exception, because there was no one who could teach you how to hack or read code without years of study and application, like him. His field was the most untouched amongst the classes, even the ones in the specialist class were only medical experts, not that there was anything wrong with that. So he would go from being a Rookie straight to becoming a Specialist, he had heard he had become hot news amongst the commanders.

Horus had his usual breakfast with the two but this time he had and extra member. Along the way, Lucius had stuck to his group trying to befriend him if possible. There was no reason to refuse if it made his life easier without him always annoying him.

So now their group composed of five people, a girl had followed Lucius into his group, he had a feeling she was infatuated with the guy, he was good looking after all.

Heather came his way and sat in front of him. "How have you been?"

"Fine, the courses aren't hard to follow, where's your leader been?" He hadn't seen Alicia since the day she took him around. He also couldn't casually call Alicia by her name anymore because he was becoming a combatant and a foot soldier while she was an officer.

"Recently things have been hectic. (sigh) That girl!...She left me to do her duties while she was working on re-securing priority on the first pick of the recruit from Central and the other Commanders."

"Didn't she have that priority already? Did she get greedy and find another person she liked?"

"No, actually Central denied her that option and went with a bid from the commanders from the number of ops they were willing to take to choose their desired recruit. Bradford also dropped the bomb that there was a recruit with network intrusion capabilities as a speciality, so now the commanders are scratching up intel from the base to look for the mysterious recruit with said skills." She giggled away because she knew who it was.

"So...?"

"So what?"

"How does it feel to be desired by a woman so badly?" She chuckled to herself.

"Have you ever considered the increase in workload after she manages to secure me?" Horus reminded her of Alicia's reckless tendencies, to which she quietened down dramatically.

"Excuse me for a moment...I wanna check up on her." After saying that to Horus she dashed out of the mess hall, probably to stop her superior from recklessly taking on extra missions and jobs.

"Who was that, Horus?"

"Someone I know in the base, she and her team rescued me from Adelaide a while ago."

"She looks sooo adorable!" Steph said with her hands to her heated face.

Stephanie was taken to Heathers small size and found her cute. Horus wasn't sure what Heather thought about others talking about her shortness.

"So I was thinking, maybe we could grab a drink together sometime, Stephanie!" Lucius tried all ways to get to know her. The girl who followed him did not look please.

"Do I hear drinks on you?" Chris turned to Lucius and suggested it become a group outing instead of his intended one to one with Steph, he was now helpless to change the mood now that Chris had openly declared this.

"Eh- yeah! Why not..."

"Are you coming too?" Steph looked to Horus who was more interested in finishing his sausages.

"I don't see why I shouldn't."

"Great! So when do we meet, Lu?"

"L-L-Lu?!"

"Lucius is a bit of a tongue twister for me besides, Lu sounds more friendly and adorable. Is that alright with you?"

"N-no. Lu is fine! Aha-hahaha!" Lucius blushed all over as he laughed dryly.

"So where and when, Lulu?" Horus asked wanting to schedule the time.

"Who allowed you to call me that!"

Steph chuckled away at the cuter nickname Horus gave him, causing Lucius to feel lost. The girl who followed him giggle softly.

When he and the rest were done with breakfast, they went on with the lessons. It was a situation testing simulator on combat scenarios, a table with two consoles and a module from projecting a holographic image of the scenario.

The first hour was an explanation from Fields and a demonstration. The projector deployed a squad of old XCOM troops pitted against the older Alien models, most notable were the Sectoids being deployed as grunts and they were a lot smaller and less intimidating. Horus observed the detail of the holographic images of the combatants, one of them strangely resembled someone. The leader ordered the squad to move with precision maneuvers and he took the front of the formation almost every time, it was gallant and courageous. He looked closer at the leader as he was sure there was someone resembling him, but unfortunately he was unable to make out who it was.

"I recognize that face! That's Sean McMillard! I've seen pictures of him in the bar memorial, then this must be fire team Noir!"

"Right you are, Gregory! This was an old training model for recruits of the old XCOM, using the recorded combat data to build into a simulation." Fields corrected him.

The hologram of the leader moved his squad into a converge upon the outnumbering enemies and had actually turned the tide of the battle in their favor, Horus took note of this and was curious of what kind of comradery he shared with his men to have them trust him so much to throw themselves in harm's way.

"Man! That leader's movements are aggressive!"

The comment from one of the recruits made Fields wear a sad expression as if he was reminiscing the good old days. He switched the combat scenario to another one.

"Practice without me, I'm going out for a smoke. I'll be back to check on you in an hour." Fields dismissed himself from the room. Horus had not known Fields long enough but whenever the latter smoked it was to relieve his stress.

Horus watched and played against the other recruits in the war game.

"What?! That was 85% chance of hit! How could he miss?!" His opponent complained.

Horus ordered his soldier to throw a grenade at the wounded enemy, grenades never missed and were a confirmed fix damage. He killed the last enemy trooper and attained victory over his opponent.

"That simulator is bugged I tell you!" The recruit was unwilling to accept his defeat.

"Hey, let me try!" Lucius took reigns of the other side of the simulator.

"I'll pick fire team Striker, my dad led them after all." The model of his father was really a splitting image of himself.

"Don't regret if I kill your dad in the game."

"Just chose a team already!"

Horus flipped through the scroll option for the teams but his mind was set already on one team. He picked fire team Noir.

He wanted to see what else that leader had to offer when forced into the most difficult situation, so he gave a scenario where Lucius had the advantage.

Lucius battled him from the high ground. All he had to do was hold his ground and the opponent's forces would thin out. The battle began and Horus gave the order to directly fight Striker.

The Noir leader ordered smoke screen deployed at Striker instantly blinding Strikers view of themselves and their opponent. Then while scaling the heights of the cliff they lobbed grenades above Striker causing an airburst effect and killing a majority of their soldiers.

Going head to head. Noir drew their bayonets and blades and begun chopping down the faltering Striker. Horus was just too fascinated by the combination of tactics they employed it was like merging the modern fire movements with the old medieval clashes of swords and spears. Who in the world would dare to use close combat weapons in a gunfight?

The game ended when the Noir leader sliced off Lucius's father's head himself.

"Noooo! What the hell was that?! That team must have some sort of buff, why the hell did I lose in such a favorable position?"

Horus was actually wondering the same thing, the movements made him forget he was at a disadvantage initially, in most scenarios his team would have outright lost.

"Because you went up against fire team Noir!" They turned around to see Fields had returned.

Fields reached out to pull out his pipe.

"No smoking." Horus told him bluntly.

He flinched at his reminder but returned his pipe reluctantly.

"Winters jr. lost because he was pitted against Noir. If it had been another team, the odds would be different. Hell! If it was just the leader alone, you'd still lose." He informed them.

"What?! How the hell does my father lose to such a person? My dad was a decorated hero in XCOM!" Lucius said as a matter a factly.

"Your right in saying that your dad was a great asset and a brilliant strategist, but he was also the greatest joker in the organization."

"W-what?! Joker?" Lucius was suddenly confused of the situation and the tales he had heard from his mother and father.

"Don't get me wrong, he was still one of the best among the combatants. But the person you pit him against was a monster of his own league." Fields stated as he pointed his pipe at the Noir leader's holographic image.

"Who was he?" The one question that burned in his mind ever since he saw him, the rest were just as anxious to hear the answer.

"That was Martin Hunor, the father of Lieutenant Hunor!"

Of course! Now it all made sense!

There was one specific area that the resembled and that was the eyes although her father's were much fiercer with the same yellow tinge in them.

"What happened to him?"

"I'm afraid I'm not at the liberty to answer that question, the only way you get that answer is from the young lady yourself." Fields told him.

"But my advice is not to mention it to her at all, if you know what's best for you!" He also warned him.

Now the question bugged him, who was the father of Alicia and what was he like? Yet none could answer that question for him.

"If there was another who could do the same as Noir it would be Hye Gi and her old fire team Efreet. She always gets angry when she's been pitted against Martin!" Fields laugh a bit as he remembered the scenes of their arguments.

Horus wanted to know more about Martin Hunor but the options were few and risky. Asking Madam Lee would probably probe a violent response, Fields after all said they were in some kind of rivalry. He also didn't want to sour his relation with Alicia for the sake of his curiosity so he was forced to put his question aside.

Her father had already given him a ton of insight in battle. He couldn't help but be inspired to follow in his footsteps, that battle alone taught him not to see disadvantage as an unassailable option and it was an important lesson for him if he were out in the field not to be hampered by unfavorable odds. Then again, it had to do with the quality of the commander and his equally skilled troops. He wondered if he'll ever met him, but it didn't seem likely.

Horus continued dueling other recruits with other teams as they now knew the power of Noir.

* * *

"""Cheers!"""

"Bottoms up!"

The five of them that formed a group gathered in the pub drinking to their hearts content at the expense of Lucius. Although he didn't mind because Steph was sitting in front of him across the table so everything was fine as long as he kept the drinks coming to keep Chris from wrecking his contact with Steph. Horus was nice enough to let him be, seeing he was trying his chance at Steph so he didn't interfere, Lucius was ever grateful for his charity at this moment.

The who no one seemed to have bothered about sat at the edge of the table with Horus on the other end, sipping at her pint.

"I'm Horus, we haven't even bothered to ask for your name." He held out a hand. But the girl didn't take it so he retracted it back. She acted as if he wasn't even there when he had the decency to acknowledge her existence after joining the group.

What a bitch?

"Kara." She gave her name after some brief time had passed and he was nearly losing his patience.

In the looks department, she wasn't anything less than Stephanie. A brunette with long hair swiped to one side of her shoulder and a blue perm on the top, she had hazelnut doe eyes. She also did not have the resistance fighter appearance, she looked like she fit in with the academy girls group discussing about make up or boys they liked. But Horus knew looks can be deceiving.

"I've never seen anyone cling on like you have on their target as much as you have…."

"What are you trying to say?" Her tone was evidently sharp.

"It almost makes me want to help you get him." He completed his previous sentence with deliberately garnering her attention.

She was evidently surprised Horus offered her such assistance without asking for anything in return.

"No thanks." She answered coldly after much thought.

"It actually kind of bothers me that Lulu is quite a blockhead not to notice the jewel under his nose." He continued his assault to talk with her.

"Hahh! Tell me about it. Just what does he see in her?" He had succeeded.

"Steph is pretty, hands down. Most guys like her bright and cheerful attitude, and she always sees things with a flowery view. There's not much to not like about her as a person, companion or just friend."

He gave a very clear objective view of her standing opponent.

"Aren't not captivated yourself?"

"Oh very! If I weren't I would be gay. But I have a set of values that keep me from getting too close to others, that includes her."

"If you put it like that, doesn't that mean it's harder from me to get him then?" She looked genuinely worried, like she was losing someone special, Horus was new to that expression but even he felt a little sorry for her situation.

"Is that going to sour your dedication?" His single question was to spark her commitment.

"N-no! Absolutely not!"

He didn't know why but he was having a bit of fun playing matchmaker for her and Lucius even if the consequences for him interfering were harsh.

"Then one question?"

"Just say it, anything!"

"Why did you fall for him?"

"W-What?" She blushed heavily at his question and had a quick glance at Lucius's direction to make sure he wasn't listening. He was too occupied with talking to Steph and Chris was too occupied with drink to care.

"I... I don't know… Maybe it's his resolve at doing things."

"You mean his recklessness? Who are you kidding here, yourself?" That was obviously a lie and he knew it.

"Jeez! I don't know myself but I can't help but be drawn to him, regardless of how he really is. I know it's not a good explanation but that's how it is!"

"Do you want me to tell you why you find him interesting, without looking at his bad qualities?"

Kara was keen to hear what he had diagnosed from his analysis and nodded.

"You've found your soulmate."

That was the simplest explanation to why she was trying so hard to be with him, but it made sense. She couldn't help but laugh at her own silliness.

"Thank you, Horus."

"No problem. If you gave a smile like that to him, I'm sure he can't help but look at you."

"Eh?"

"Hey! What're you two talking about, you want to share with the rest of us?" Chris asked in his drunken state. Horus lightly pushed his intoxicated body away from him, rested against the chair.

Kara lightly giggled at his predicament upon handling the drunken Chris.

"Don't laugh, or I'll have you help me bring him to his bunk later."

"Oho? Making a lady do the heavy lifting are we?"

"Only if she wants my help she will."

"Urgh!"

So much later Lucius paid for the drinks and the rest left. Steph seemed to have enough of talking solely to Lucius and decided to turn in for the night, Horus with the help of Kara helped carry the sleeping Chris.

He was glad he got Kara to help him because Chris was no small man and easily weighed more than him.

"Urgh! He smells horrible!" Kara complained.

They reached the communal bunks not long, everyone was fast asleep.

"Where is his bunk?"

"Second to the right on the bottom." She pointed to the bunk, and opened the bed quilts for Horus to slip him in.

"Right. I'm going back. Have a good rest, Kara."

"Come to think of it, why haven't we seen you in bunks since training?"

"I'm staying in one of the quarters, someone helped me get it but expects me returns for her effort through my work."

"Ehhh? Can I have a look? I've always wanted to see what a private room looks like, Pleaseee!"

It was late and he wasn't feeling like staying up too long.

"I'll show it next time."

"But by then everyone will know about your place!"

"So?"

"Come on! Just show it to me once, I won't be long!"

He really hated her insistence but reluctantly gave in, there really wasn't harm showing it.

He walked back to his room with Kara happily in tow, he could shake the feeling it was a bad idea. Upon reaching his room and swiping the keycard through the slot, the door opened and Kara zipped by him and jumped onto his bed.

"Getting a little too comfortable aren't you."

"Relax, it's not such a big a deal. Is that an en-suite?! Man! What are you doing for this person?"

"I'm planning on becoming a specialist in the network intrusion and hacking field for missions."

"Ah! So you're that specialist everyone's been talking about!"

"Please don't disclose it, for your own good."

Kara smiled slyly at him. "My mouth requires some hush money for that."

Horus grimaced at her unwanted playfulness.

"You've seen all you wanted to see, how about you call it a night. I don't want to think about what Fields has in-store for us tomorrow and I want to shower."

"Can I have a shower first?"

"How about no! Why can't you devote this kind of energy to Lucius instead?"

Kara was shocked for a while, not because she was refused but because she had not understood why she had ended up wanting to know more about him instead of her 'soulmate'.

"I don't know…. I guess I just started to get comfortable with you." She answered honestly.

"Well don't. I don't need that from anyone especially you!" Horus became defensive.

"Why are you acting this way?" She evidently felt insulted as she frowned.

"….." He didn't want to answer, he had already answered that when she first started talking to him.

"Were you hurt in some way before by someone?"

"Get out."

"If your helping me, I see no reason I can't do the same."

"GET OUT!"

The rare anger he showed to others including himself just got released by her insistence. Her eyes showed apparent fear at his outburst, realizing she had taken the wrong approach.

"…. I'm sorry, I'll go." She said before she left his room, feeling bad about him.

Horus went into his bathroom to take a shower. "What a way to end the day on a horrid feeling." He said to himself in the showers.

After his shower he was preparing to go to sleep when he heard a knock on the door.

"What does she want this time?"

Kara left him with a bad taste at the end of his day and he felt like not answering the door. (Knock) (Knock) (Knock) But apparently she wouldn't stop knocking the door.

He got off his bed and walked to the door and pressed the shutter open.

"What is it now?!" He asked in an angry tone.

"I'm sorry? Were you expecting someone else?" A cheerful tone responded instead.

"Alicia? It's late for you to come visit. And sorry about that, someone had come to my place just now and pissed me off in an instant."

"I'm sure whoever did that must have been really intolerable to make even you angry!" She chuckled.

"Oh! Come on in!" He moved inside to make way.

"It looks surprisingly clean still." She commented as she looked around his room.

"Well I didn't have much except my standard issue and what I came here with, but I can't complain about the fortune I've had so far."

"It feels so fun to probe that response knowing your awkward with praise!" She said while sitting on his bed.

"So you came here to poke fun at me for you own enjoyment then?"

"Oh no! Perish the thought, I'm here to check up on my favorite recruit."

"I heard from Heather this morning you skipped on duty again, what a way to set an example to your peers and aspirants."

She fell flat against the bed sheets.

"Mmm… you have a nice scent!" She snuggled against his pillow.

"Don't change the subject."

"Muuuu! Why do you have to talk about such a boring subject? I spent an entire day trying to secure you as my specialist, why can't you feel grateful about it?" She said pouting.

"Yes. I heard you lost your right to pick over Central's fancy."

"Damn straight! Why does he always make things difficult for me especially? Is it because of my family history?"

"Your family history?" He hoped to probe her about her father he was so curious about.

"Uh- never mind! Pretend I never said that!" She laughed it off making it hard for him to ask again.

"So what can I do for you today?"

"You can tell me about your day for starters."

Horus sat on the chair and leaned back. He told her to events of the day, parts on Lucius's crush looking to win him over and also the more interesting Strategy Simulator with the old models. He wondered whether it was a good idea to mention Noir, the Fire Team her father led and decided to be adventurous.

"…. Turns out that fire team was really overpowered! I find it hard to believe that was based off actually combat footage data."

True enough she became quiet when Noir was mentioned.

"Say. What do you think about Noir's leader?"

It was a simple question but one laced with landmines if he didn't handle carefully would cause a rift in their relations.

"Reckless and his choices are not something most people would do."

"Eh?"

"That's why there isn't a need for you to be like him, Alicia!"

"!... So you knew. Did Fields tell-."

"Fields didn't need to tell me, I knew! When I looked at him from the table it bogged my mind as someone who resemble someone I had seen before! That was obviously you, your eyes have the same yellow tone iris. That's how both of you are similar."

"…."

"I won't press you to tell me about it if you feel uncomfortable."

"But don't you want to find out about my father?" She asked anxiously.

"That comes secondary to my friendship with you, you can always indulge me when the time is right. Who knows, you might not tell me about him ever and I'll still be fine with that." He said assuring as he smiled again.

"AHahahahaha! Why haven't you fixed that smile yet? Hahaha…."

It upset him that the smile was a failure and he still had no control over its function to smile naturally. She got up and walked to the entrance, she had had her fill of talking and was ready to turn in but before she left…...

"Thank you, Horus! For being so understanding." She gave him a peck on the cheek.

* * *

The kiss was still fresh on his mind the next day and he smiled like an idiot nearly the entire day.

"Hahhh!" (Thump) Chris punched him hard during a boxing match and he was instantly K. . Steph ran to him to check on his condition, while snapping at Chris for using too much force.

"Maggots! Gather around!" Steph helped Horus up to walk to the gathering as Fields had ordered.

"Tomorrow is the last day of your training, I'm glad to say you've all performed exceptionally well despite the shortness in time. Remember to trust in your comrades in the field, and fight with your all, always! Then let everything else play out on its own and you should come back every time safe and sound. Your life is just as important to us as the mission so don't waste it unnecessarily."

He brought up his pipe to place in his mouth.

""""No smoking.""" Everyone answered in monotone.

"Damn brats!" To which they all shared one last hearty laugh at their Instructors bad habit.

"From tomorrow onwards each of you will be posted to an existing unit for a deployment, that mission will be your final test to become a Rookie amongst the combatants. If you survive, naturally that title will become yours. I'll now read out the names of the units you will be divided to, take note that this unit will not be your final unit so don't get too cozy."

Fields distributed the names of who would go to which unit and ordered them to dismiss and await further orders from their given unit that would come to pick them up.

"Which unit are you going to?" Steph asked him, he opened the paper he received, it said….

"Menace 1- 2, Lieutenant Harold 'Bismarck' Class's unit."

"Hmmm….. seems they sent me to a Lieutenant Alicia 'Alice' Hunor's Unit, wasn't that the same Hunor as yesterday's simulation?"

"That was her dad is Fields said."

She turned purple of recalling the maneuvers Noir did and wondered if she would be expected to do the same. "W-will she-….."

"Don't worry Steph, she's nothing like her old man. She's the one who pulled me out of the mess in Australia. She has a heart of gold and I'm sure she'll love to have a rookie like you on her team." He encouraged her.

"If you say so then it must be true! Ok! Suddenly it doesn't feel as bad as it first appeared."

"Also do you remember Heather?"

"How could I forget that adorable munchkin!"

"She's in that unit."

"R-Really?! Wow! This day just keeps getting better, thanks Horus!"

"No prob." She went to share her unit with the others and the expectations she had of herself in there.

Kara came over to him hesitantly, causing him to frown from recalling that incident at the night.

"I'm sorry about what I did last night, I guess I was a bit high in alcohol and started saying insensitive things."

She ended up apologizing again, he just sighed not wanting to deal with it again.

"We'll just let bygones be bygones."

"Really? You mean it?" She showed him that bright smile again. He was starting to think she would only show it when she felt comfortable.

"I wonder what my unit is like, perhaps they aren't as a head sore as this bunch." He said to himself.

However, the mission his temporary unit and him were about to venture into would leave a permanent scar on his emotions for the rest of his waking life.

* * *

 **If there were more tags available i would have put tons more but there are only two available for each story. The next chapter encompasses tragedy/pain.**


	5. Chapter 5 - Herald of the Elders

**Next chapter already working on it.**

* * *

"So I'd like to welcome the new blood to our humble unit, come on! Don't be shy!" Bismarck pushed him forward.

"Horus-."

"""Hi, Horus!""" They said in unison. What's this, a group therapy session?!

"I look forward to working with everyone here until the mission is complete." A round of applause came out from them, not that there was anything to clap about.

The skyranger had been waiting for him the next day when they came to pick him up. A mission had just presented itself, talk about the timing. Many would have considered Horus to be unfortunate but he saw it as getting over with it quickly so he could focus at the task at hand which was helping XCOM in a way he knew best which was programming and deciphering code of the enemy.

"So what do you plan to take up when you graduate?" Bismarck asked him in a friendly tone. He now understood that the group all around had a good character mirrored after their leader Harold Class which he preferred to be called by his callsign.

That was the same for the rest of the members in the fire team. It was common radio disciple to call each other by their callsigns/nicknames. For the time being they gave him the temporary name "Rookie" because he was one. His nickname was to be given by his permanent unit.

"I'll be taking up the role of specialist after a mission success."

"That sounds swell, we're actually short on specialists in XCOM as a whole so they're a rare group of people. Especially in the technical field, those guys are like an endangered species, haha! Most engineers under Chief Shen aren't the fighting material so they wouldn't take up the combat role when their position is a great contribution to the organization and doesn't have them risk their lives like we do."

"That is pretty enlightening."

"Oh! Get this, there's actually a recruit amongst you who knows how to handle network intrusions, and just when we were talking about those rare unicorns one just revealed itself. Any idea who it is?"

"Haven't heard of anyone who could do that from my batch of recruits." Except me.

"Oh well, it was worth a try. All the unit commanders are looking around for that rare bird but no word has been released, Central surely knows how to make us fall into anticipation."

"Which commander do you think will get that person?" A fellow named Green asked.

"Yoshikawa might get him, she always gets the good ones. It's that charm power she has that lures them in I tell you!"

"How do ya know that person's a he?"

"Never heard of a female who would pick up computer technology or programming."

"I don't think that's a fair assessment!" A woman in the team spoke up, her call sign Irish.

"Would you pick up programming and digital tech if given the choice?"

"Nah! I'll pass, it's not my thing." She replied.

-Firebrand to Menace 1-2, we're nearing the drop zone. Prepare for drop and remember to check your watches boys, you have a small window for extraction. Don't be late. Out.-

"Right! You heard her, get ready! Check ammo and weapons, secure harnesses and equipment. Don't forget anything on the ride. I'll go over the mission once more. Our orders are to disable a relay that the enemy has installed to gather intel via network on the resistance in the area. Just a quick in and out. No frills and we should be back for lunch."

"I just hope there's still enough cake at the dessert stand when we get back."

Horus couldn't deny there was a friendly aura this team insinuated, it felt too much for him.

"Don't worry, just stay next to me and everything will be a ok!" Bismarck winked.

Steph should be in this unit, he thought.

The skyranger hovered two stories above ground, the ropes fell to the floor and they rappelled down quickly, Horus did the same.

By the time he reached the ground the skyranger flew off as the ropes retracted, the fire team had also taken a defensive formation too quickly. The mood around the team also changed, they had become professional combatants now.

The moved with silent precision through the streets of downtown, there were a few civilians dotted around the place but none had even spotted them, it was like they didn't expect them to be here at all.

Horus closely followed from behind, they evaded the ADVENT patrols of three men right till they arrived at a checkpoint which was more heavily guarded.

"Four ADVENT troops and a red. One viper and a sectoid, security systems are still active. There's also two sentry turrets." Reported Irish.

"Any way around?"

"With the patterns that those aliens move its unlikely unless you want to risk detection."

They had fallen into a stump and they could not move through undetected.

"Then we bust through, set up a field of fire over them! Make sure to take out the aliens first, those two are the most troublesome."

The team dispersed leaving Horus and Bismarck at the rear.

"You stay here until we deal with this slight hiccup, ok?"

"I have a suggestion." Bismarck was surprise to notice the recruit would already start participating in battle.

"Go on, perhaps it might help in our present situation."

"We don't actually have to fight all of them."

"We don't?"

Horus pointed to the sentry turrets.

"If you can get me close enough to the command console of that security checkpoint I'll override the turrets thereby catching them in the flank when you ambush them."

"It couldn't be that your-...alright, rookie! We'll try it your way." They approached the closest to the checkpoint as Bismarck passed his members and told them of the plan, they were surprisingly not against sending him to sneak pass to hack the terminal.

Bismarck observed the patrol patterns and determined a safe entry to the command console. Positioned in front of him in a crouch position, Horus waited for him to give the signal. "Go!"

Horus moved quickly still in crouch towards the sheltered sentry checkpoint where the console lay. He poked his hand up to do a thumbs up indicating he safely entered without detection. Relief came over the itchy trigger fingers who were prepared to begin the ambush in the event he failed.

Carefully taking the console cover off as quietly as possible and plugging his data pad into the console, he began his intrusion into the security protocols. Since the last time, the code had become more difficult. Perhaps it was a measure of beefing up security since his last intrusion that decimated a large number of ADVENT troops in adelaide. After ten minutes of fiddling around with the datapad he managed to break into the admin and install a new directive into the turret. He performed the same signal used to indicate he had safely reached to inform him of his completion.

"Right, the rookie has done it. Ready when you are, Keller." Bismarck ordered their group sharpshooter to take the first shot at the ADVENT officer to prevent reinforcements from being called. They would have preferred to take out the aliens instead but having this many on their plate was enough, they still needed to extract.

(Bam) A high powered round cut through the air and the ADVENT officer's head blossomed with alien blood. The rest of the fire team fired their weapons before the aliens and ADVENT troops could comprehend what had taken place.

Two troopers went down and the Viper was wounded. The sectoid had managed to evade harm and screeched at Bismarck's team, taking temporary control over the dead officer.

"Kill that alien, now!"

The turrets instantly traversed towards the sectoid and fired a brilliant stream of high density mag slugs at its unprotected body. The alien was stunned to see the turret turn against it and tried to flee but the volume of two turrets was too thick to evade. The sectoid was shredded to pieces and the influence over the reanimated officer had vanished.

"That was close, he nearly called reinforcements! Keep up the fire lads! Leave none alive!"

With the teams' fire pinning down the remaining ADVENT troops to be finished off by the turrets, leaving only the viper left. Irish left her cover to take a slice at the snake alien. The viper had been too preoccupied with the turrets facing its immediate line of sight that it had failed to notice Irish was already upon it. Her straight cleaver sliced clean through the serpent's body, and the dead alien spasmed a few times more before dying, much like an actual snake from earth.

"Clear!" She called out and the rest of the team gathered at her location.

She patted Horus on the shoulder for a great job. "If I could have more instances that my blade parts their flesh that would really make my day. Couldn't have done it without you, rookie!" Horus ignored her sadistic tendencies and focused on her actual praise.

"Yeah! Good job, rookie!"

"Sir, doesn't this mean that he's that recruit?" Someone just realized it.

"I guess we got real lucky this time didn't we, boys and girls?" Bismarck laughed aloud.

"But, remember all of you! We're here for a mission, we can talk about it on the way back."

The fire team nodded and instantly returned to their movement formation. There was a time for rest and play for them, it left an impression on Horus at their discipline.

They moved up until they reached a two storey house. "Signal says it's here! Keep watch, there could be guards."

Circling the house to look for baddies inside, one could see in true living room a large pylon that should not be there, it was pulsing with an alien color to it. When the house had been cleared, the fire team stood in front of the pylon.

"So... how do we turn it off?"

"There's a console point on it, hey! Maybe the rookie could disable it!" One of the group members suggested.

"Could you do that?" Bismarck asked Horus as he went around observing the pylon.

"In theory I can but what is it's intended purpose, I can assess the local network but if I can't find its domain it won't mean anything."

"Wasn't it for intruding the resistance net?"

"Was that what the resistance told command? I'm not a hundred percent convinced that is the right thing to do to it. Yet the resistance asked us to destroy it without them doing it themselves. Don't you remember there wasn't a single ADVENT force near this thing."

"What do you think?"

"I think the message was a fraud, but the danger of leaving this thing here would still leave the resistance in a vulnerable position."

"I don't get you."

"ADVENT was the one who sent that distress signal, through this thing. I think it's some sort of communication scrambler, it's definitely not good news for us or the resistance."

Bismarck began to understand the gravity of having the device run.

"But they were the ones who sent the signal to disable it. Why would they do such a thing without someone here to apprehend us?"

"It's just a theory but I think there are many of these objects placed in the outskirts of the city to act as a type of fishing lure. Regardless of whether the device is disabled, a central hub could process the info and map out roughly where there is the heaviest amount of resistance are at and send the appropriate forces to deal with. This way, they don't have to spread their forces out to protect everything and can just dispatch the heaviest concentration of troops to the problem if these beacons are tampered with."

"Jesus! There are fishing us out!" Bismarck came to a conclusion of the activities ADVENT was performing.

"But then, does that mean we just leave it?" Green asked.

"No, we can't. Then the resistance forces will still be found through the data processing that this thing does. We have no choice but to destroy it, but it will sound the alarm and call in dozens of elite soldiers to deal with us, maybe even capture us for interrogation." Horus told them.

"Boss?" Green turned to Bismarck who thought about it for a while.

"We can't leave till its destroyed but it will set off the alarm, the resistance gets located if we leave it. Then we might as well disable it and face the music!" Bismarck came to his decision and the team cheered on.

It could be said that they felt a little scared of the outcome of having the vanguard of ADVENT come to destroy them.

"I might be able to make it even more worthwhile for your choice." Horus said, they instantly turned to him.

"What do you mean?"

"This is also a beacon to the central command who dispatches the elite soldiers, meaning I couldn't ask for a better place to hack the command and control for intel, it is as good as me being in their headquarters stealing valuable intelligence."

"Really? You could do that?"

"If I have your permission, sir."

"You have it! If we get out of this alive, I'll do everything in my power to have you on our team. You've been a great asset to us this entire mission. Ah hell! We'll celebrate at the pub, free drinks on me!"

The fire team couldn't help but cheer on at the turn of events, Horus could conceal his natural smile.

"Right, set a perimeter and rig the charges on the outside, barricade the doors and check weapons and ammo." Bismarck managed a defense within the house.

"Sir, we can only inform Central of the activities only when I have successfully intruded. That means that when the invaders come only then can we tell command of our intentions and the situation we face."

"Alright, just don't be too adventurous in there, ok? There is no guarantee there are no counter-measures against intrusion of their command."

"Right. And sir!"

"Yes? "

"This strategy... I can't help but shake the feeling that this was orchestrated by a human."

"What?! That's-..."

"I think that should be the direction I should be searching for, the identity of the person and his location."

"Then that all the more reason to watch out for him, if he plays the same game as us!" Bismarck told him before attending to the defenses.

Horus sat in front of the pylon and observed the shell. For any other hardware that comes to block his way in hacking the command.

Bismarck had sent Keller to another house that overlooked their own, to pick off targets in their blind areas. He mined the road around the house and had the heavy weapons trained onto the front and back yard. He stood on standby on the top room overlooking the area and had Irish run as dispatch around the house to relay Horus's progress to him.

Irish sat comfortably on the sofa observing Horus at work. He had found true enough, an external device for anti-hacking similar to a device during his academy days.

"Hey, rookie! Where did you learn to do these things?" Irish asked curiously.

"From an ADVENT academy years ago, before I became a fugitive on the run."

"What did you do?"

"I peeked at ADVENTs top ten list of embarrassing secrets."

Irish laughed at his joke.

"I wish I could go to school..."

"You could."

"Eh?"

"When this rebellion ends, there is no better time for you to join!"

"You think so? I'm not really good at studying, I just thought it was nice to experience a student's life."

"Then I'll teach you."

"Wha-.. you'd really do that for me?"

"I can even write a letter of recommendation for you if you want."

The young Irish buzzed about as if receiving a ticket to a golden place.

"Promise, you can't take it back after you say so, alright?" She held out a pinky.

"Fine, promise." He crossed pinkies with her. And went back to work on the pylon, Irish was in a cheerful mood.

Horus began his connection to the network via the pylon. And had reached the doorstep of the Command network.

"I'm in, tell Bismarck to expect company!" Horus informed Irish. Irish got out of her seat to find Bismarck at the top floor.

"He said he's in, they shouldn't be long now."

"Go stay by his side, I'm counting on you to protect him." Bismarck ordered her as he began to inform his other teammates. He also called Command and told them of the situation.

-...Understood, reinforcements will be on their way shortly, hang tight Menace 1-2!- Central responded through the secure channel.

Irish stood by Horus watching attentively for intruders into the house with her large bore shotgun.

Horus had entered the Command network and found an intricate layer of branches to different parts of their function as he looked around he began to understand the sheer size of the network but was also having a sense of unease. Somehow the branches of the network were vast and the lights representing the information travelling through it were going at light speed processing, he calculated that it is function was at a millisecond and not something an entire room full of officers could even perform.

"A super computer?"

That couldn't be right. The processes were densely packed but extremely complexed a supercomputer would consist of several processing units in a neat order next to one another giving a very symmetrical image of a processors network branching. This was just one with its branches very tightly packed, it almost looked like...

A human cerebra vortex!

* * *

But how could a person process this much material, they could be fried out within a brief period. That's when he realized, that someone had been uplinked to become a complex command and control network for the entire ADVENT formation.

Who the hell was it? Was he being force to do it against his will? How did he survive processing this massive amounts of information? He didn't have long before someone found his intrusion after shutting down the pylon. He began searching through the vast network looking for clues on the location and the strength of ADVENT in that place.

Outside, dropships had dispatched ADVENT troops to the grounds outside the house a far distance. There were all kinds of troops, the visored peacekeepers, the white armor shieldbearers and some sort of mechanical soldier carrying heavy ordnance. Standing among them was the most peculiar sight.

A human, similarly dressed to the ADVENT soldiers but wore a more advanced set of armor. The human walked up to the house in plain sight.

-This is the Prism knight Barbatos, commander of the 7th strikeforce! Herald of the Elders! Come quietly or there will be consequences.- The human spoke through a loudspeaker of his helmet linked with the scanning lamps.

"What the fuck?! Is that a human leading ADVENT forces? Fucking traitor!" Green cursed through his mouth.

"What's that progress on the intrusion!"

"He's in and searching, he gave an estimate of 3 minutes."

-Disturbers of peace, I come forth to discuss terms of surrender.- The ethereal voice sounded through the speakers.

"This is Lieutenant Bismarck of XCOM. If you're asking for surrender, you've come to the wrong people!"

-XCOM? That band of renegades that disobeyed the councils' decisions to accelerate peace? XCOM is long gone lieutenant so there is no need to hang on to stubborn beliefs.-

"That's where your wrong traitor! XCOM still stands and it will free this world from the influence of the aliens."

-It seems there is no convincing you then, In the name of peace and by the power bestowed onto me by the Elders I shall exterminate all who threaten order.-

The prism knight as he declared himself to be drew out a crackling orange glowing sword which generated a field of energy, some sort of energy sword.

"First contingent! Advance!"

A row of ADVENT soldiers charged at the barricaded house while firing on the move.

"Return fire!" The heavy weapons shredded the first wave without problem, leaving the knight stunned at the competency of the insurrectionists and the complete annihilation of his first wave.

"Second contingent..."

In the house, Bismarck was coordinating the defense of the house and radioed Keller to take a shot at the traitor when ready.

He always checked in on Horus now and again.

Horus had gathered and downloaded the intel that he promised but was continuing to dig for the command controls identity, some part of him kept gnawing at him to find out as it would benefit XCOM tremendously. Then trouble came, he spotted a moving code searching around for him, it didn't feel safe at all. It was as if the code was alive and was hunting him down. He quickly hid himself from that entity and made his escape. Somehow how the entity was aware of his movement as he tried to log out and scrambled after him, to destroy the data he had stolen.

"Shit!"

"What?"

"There's something in the network that's sourcing my location it will alert the rest of their reserves to this location if spotted."

"That can't be good, how much time do you need?"

"Another five minutes then we can retreat!"

Irish ran to Bismarck to inform him the news.

"Our hands are tied at the moment. Keller, do you have the target?"

-Yes, sir! Taking the shot.-

Keller had the confidence he could take the head of the enemy general in one hit. The traitor was already in his crosshairs.

(Bam) The bullet flew to cut the thread of Barbatos life. A soft glow enclosed around the knight and the bullet grazed of the light prism that formed around him. Some kind of energy shield had deflected his shot.

-He's shielded!- Keller reported back.

Barbatos noticed the attempt on his life, had it not been for the personal defense shield he would not have been alive. He sent another contingent to kill the sniper who was likely alone.

"Get out, keller! He's seen you, get out!" The automaton soldiers peppered the house which Keller had hidden in into rumble with their combined volley of high caliber mag rounds and grenades, ending his life.

"Damn it!" Bismarck cursed.

By now the numbers were five against twenty including that traitor.

The momentum of the charging ADVENT troops grew.

"Green! Charges!"

Green pressed the detonator to the buried X4 charges and the front yard bloomed into a mixture of explosive napalm and dirt. Seven troopers were caught in the blast and the rest were stunned from the concussion.

The team fired a few grenades at their location and took out three of them. The prism knight stood calm even when faced with such adversity, he stood in the middle of the open unafraid of getting hit. But that was probably to do with the powerful shield protecting him.

Horus was having his own battle with the entity, he turned some of the security protocols against it to delay it further while he tried to get a fix on the identity of the conduit. The entity was really tricky he had once used force on it and the most surprising thing happened. It split in two like a cell, giving him even more to deal with. So he locked it in one of the security vaults, but time was against him both in the real world too.

He managed to undo the final locks on the file that detailed the subject's details.

"That can't be..." He didn't have time to look further into the file so he downloaded it and placed a pre-prepared virus program he built to destroy their communication that required another few days to recover. But this was all he could do, Central needed to see this intel no matter the cost, even if it deprived him of his life, it concerned the wellbeing of XCOM and the global resistance. It was the weapon turned against humanity, they had to recover or they will truly perish as a species.

"Irish tell Bismarck we're done, I'm setting the charges!" Horus told Irish as he took out his X4 charge.

An ADVENT trooper invaded the house through the window and Irish sent it to meet its maker with a point-blank buckshot.

"Out of the question, Bismarck left me to watch you! You can tell him yourself once your done with the charges."

Horus didn't argue he rigged the charge and went up with Irish. "Sir, we're done its time to go!"

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen."

As he pointed to the converging ADVENT troops more troop transports came in overhead.

"You and Irish leave by the back while we hold them off."

"No! Harold, there's no need to do this- we-..we can use the charges on the pylon to fake our death and escape- we can-!"

Bismarck embraced Irish.

"It's ok child, sometimes things like these happen, but you two are too young to face the consequences, and that intel is too important to fall from our grasp. Horus, make sure that Central gets it and I'm sorry your first deployment had to be so rough. You've earned the title of specialist more times that I can count today."

"Sorry, but that's not going to happen!" He said calmly.

"What-?"

"You still owe me a party at the bar. And I don't accept afterlife currency."

"There's no other choice."

"Or so you think, those robot troops that are hammering us from outside, I think they'll be the perfect distraction for our escape." He said with his signature smile.

"C-can you do that?"

"Buy me a minute and keep eyes off me as I head to that surveillance lamp to intrude their function. They should be connected to this local network to reduce the strain on their remote function."

"You can have two minutes if you can do it!"

"I can and I will!"

"Right then, boys! We have an opportunity to get out in one piece but it involves sending the rookie to the scanning lamp to hack. Give him the strongest suppression fire you've ever given anyone!"

""""Yes, sir!""""

"On my mark!"

Horus took of his combat harness and rifle to reduce weight as he ran, he passed Bismarck the drive containing all the stolen intel he gathered. Standing behind the door to the backyard, awaiting Bismarck's signal.

"Covering fire!"

The intensive barrage of lead and grenades ripped the ADVENT contingent and had even torn up the earth around the Prism knight who's defenses still held. Either way they got his attention giving Horus a temporary illusiveness.

The automaton soldiers seemed to stick around the Prism knight always and never veered away from him, always firing from afar. Had they been sent to storm the house he would have doubted they would have lasted as long as now.

Horus wondered what type of significance did the Prism knight have in authority in the chain of command hierarchy, were they an independent force like a marshal? He had reached the surveillance lamp after dancing out of its detection radius because he didn't have a biochip to pass the screening. After connecting with the console he scrolled through the functions. He spotted a new plug in labelled 'MEC trooper OS' and figured since it was a new entry it should be those robot soldiers. Shutting them down was easy, all he had to do was force a system diagnostic and they automatically hit reset and would be delayed for a while longer. But what he truly wanted was to have the robots turn on its master and the ADVENT troops, that required him to break into their main system and update their protocols. It was tedious work given he only had two minutes.

Suddenly the troops stopped firing and converging, the Prism knight had raised his hand to order a halt and ceasefire.

-Bismarck of XCOM, you truly deserve the name given to you, like formidable German vessel you've taken on numerical odds exceeding your own for a final showdown, but it need not be the case. Perhaps I could offer you and your team, amnesty on behalf of the elders to integrate you into our force. What say you?-

"You really have deluded yourself into playing the noble knight, Barbatos or whatever you real name is! You will always remain a traitor to humanity, if it's not me that kills you it'll be someone else. Fucking alien bootlicker!" Swore Bismarck as he fired upon the energy shield of Barbatos. The bullets rippled off the energy prism, perhaps that was the reason for their name.

"I see, so you've still chosen to refuse my generosity, MEC contingent! Advance!...MEC contingent, advance- why aren't you responding?!"

The MEC troopers spasmed for a seconded then scanned the area. They pointed their weapons at the surrounding ADVENT troops and the Prism knight included. Unleashing a volley of high caliber slugs, that shredded the lightly armored ADVENT soldiers and caused the energy shield on Barbatos to flicker.

"Damnation!" He said as he swung his energy sword at the MEC troop cleaving its limbs off.

He scanned around to look for possible causes of this change in his mechanical troops. He saw Horus dashing back to the house.

"You! I'll kill you for this insult! I swear on my name as Rune Barbatos!" He waved his blade in the air as he pointed at Horus declaring his termination by him personally. He returned to contend with turncoat MEC troopers.

Horus did not notice the prism knight's fury as he ran back to rejoin the others to escape. He reached the back of the house where they gathered.

"Great job again! Let's move! Firebrand should be three hours or so from the area. I've instructed her to extract about 3 clicks from our location. So we've have to move fast."

The remaining members patted Horus on the shoulders.

"I'm sorry about Keller." He reminded them that one of their companions had died and they all lowered their heads.

"He died to give us a chance at continuing the fight, we also know some of the specs on that Prism knight fellow. I wonder how will we ever contend with them if another appeared in our mission sites?"

"We'll need bigger and better guns for that, but most importantly we need this data to reach Central, it's the data that they've been searching for almost 20 years."

"20 years what in-...no! It can't be!" A grin appeared on Bismarck's face, one gleaming with character they had not seen before.

"I understand now, even if it costs us our lives command must get this intel at all cost, then our fates as an organization will change."

* * *

 **Part 1 of 2.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Cheshire's Cacophony

**So far so good.**

* * *

The hid out in an abandoned house to avoid detention for the last remaining minutes. During this time, he got to know them all better and they of him.

Bismarck was a former rookie to XCOM who survived the alien purging and had taken refuge in the Havens for fifteen years, he had a family there. But when XCOM appeared at the Haven, he was convinced it was time to take the fight to the enemy, he kissed his wife and children goodbye and boarded the Skyranger.

"It bothered me that my family could never see the world as I lived in, my hope is to give them that chance through XCOM." He told Horus.

Green and Keller had been recruited together, so with the absence of his buddy caused him to remain quiet throughout the trek. "Perhaps if I hadn't dallied with the intel we could have gotten out faster…" Horus murmured to himself.

"That wouldn't change a thing, but at least now his death has some meaning. If that intel is as ground-breaking as both of you say it is then his life wasn't wasted." Green told him after hearing his monologue.

"My only wish is to kill that fucking traitor! Who the fuck does he think he is walking around like a knight? I bet he'll squeal like a pig when we faced him on his own!"

"I doubt he'll do that, he's so caught up in his illusion of being a heroic knight he won't even flinch nor scream when we torture him. The only way this world becomes safe is when he's dead." Bismarck told him. Green snorted.

Dmitri or Dragunov was a squad sniper in the Russian Ground Forces of the former world. The name came from the weapon he carried, although it was no longer with him his skill with the scoped assault rifle was just as good.

Then there was Irish the young ranger, she came from a family in the Havens and took up the rifle to look for a better future than just surviving. When Horus convinced her to go to school she became jolly, she had heard from the older folks in the Haven who had attended and wondered what it was like. She couldn't wait for Horus to set her on the right road.

Horus couldn't help but feel like becoming part of this fire team, he would let Alicia down but at least he wouldn't let himself down. Together with him, they had done something extremely special for XCOM, they had caused a turning point to occur. All they needed to do now was to return to the base to provide Central with the intel for the plans to the counter attack to begin.

"I've decided which team I want to be in." It caught the attention of all the members in the fire team. He pointed at them.

"It seems we couldn't agree more to having you on the team, eh lads?!" Bismarck threw his arm over his head and scuffled his hair.

Horus unconsciously let out his signature smile. As Bismarck caught sight of it, it inspired him.

"I've found a name for your call sign. Here me out."

"Ok?"

"Throughout this mission you have been an anomaly, things that should not have happened and happened. You saved Lieutenant Hunor's group, who's call sign is 'Alice', when they encountered you. Your ability with intrusions had helped you single headedly change our doomed fates. You can be illusive if you want to, causing mayhem on your own. And most of all you have that unusual smile."

Horus couldn't help but frown at Bismarck's emphasis on his smile, he was working on it!

"When Alice fell into a hole leading to wonderland, she chanced upon a peculiar creature that changed her fate and those around her, it wore the most distinctive mischievous grin that could be worn and its influence on the characters of the story had a profound effect of altering reality on its mischievous whims." Bismarck had an interesting plot of sourcing names he noted.

"From today you shall be known as….. Cheshire."

Horus felt electric run through his spine at the mention of his call sign.

"Wow! That's a wonderful name! Wish Bismarck could have done something like that for me!" Irish said.

"Ehehe! It was just a thought in my head, I was thinking about the story I would read my kids on my leave and happened to notice the similarity it had to Horus, or should I call you Cheshire now?"

Horus naturally grinned back at Bismarck.

"Yep! He likes it! Great job so far, Cheshire!"

"Don't forget my party when we return." Horus grinned.

"Oh? He's stuck to grinning like an idiot now." Everyone laughed, somehow he felt it was alright and widened his grin to match the laughing.

He hadn't felt so natural about his grin after what Bismarck told him, he believed he was truly in the right Fire team that he wanted to be his permanent group.

Because the Cheshire Cat had nothing to be ashamed about with its mischievous grin.

* * *

"15 minutes till Firebrand arrives. Shit! Their gathering around across the street, there's no way we won't be spotted! And there's that fucking knight!" Bismarck told the rest of his team.

"I don't see any surveillance lamps or MEC troops with him this time. He must have wanted to avoid a similar mishap." Reported Horus.

"We can't have Firebrand under fire as it arrives, meaning we'll have to take the fight to them and drive them back ourselves!" Bismarck made his stand.

"Agreed! It's time to take the head off that pompous shits shoulders!" Green stood up with his Gatling cocked and ready.

"Plan?" Dragunov asked Bismarck.

"Destroy the troops around Barbatos, that should keep the traitor from advancing without support."

"Where should I go?" Irish asked because it was open ground and she arsenal didn't have much to offer long range.

"Stay near, Cheshire. Green, Dragunov. Pass her your grenades and grenade launcher, she'll be our indirect fire." Green handed her his grenade launcher and bandolier, same with Dragunov and Horus.

"5 minutes to landing. Let's kick that piece of shit in the bollocks!"

In the small recreational park, the soldiers of ADVENT gathered. Organizing the was Prism Knight Barbatos. The civilians came out of their homes to see the commotion, only to see a contingent of ADVENT troops led by a high ranking official in a gallant suit of Armor. They were terribly oblivious to what was really happening.

Smoke canisters fell near the lined up ADVENT soldiers and they turned to meet the disturbance, out from the smoke were five silhouettes wearing the uniform of XCOM.

The veins bulged out of Rune's face when he saw the grin on that soldier's face who he recognised as the one who turned his MEC troops against him and had disfigured his face, a line from a mag round grazed his cheek from the turned MEC troop. They had somehow with overwhelming firepower dissolved his energy shield leaving him defenceless for a few seconds.

"Contingent! Leave none standing!" He yelled.

They began a deadly exchange of electrified mag slugs and full metal jacket projectiles. This time Barbatos charged at them no longer hung back in the rear, his rage had driven him to the point of killing them many times over for ruining his image.

His focus was mostly on Horus as the prime reason for his disfigurement. The team turned their fire towards him but the ADVENT troops stood in front to take the brunt of the barrage, they realised that they could thin out the numbers through shooting at him since the would be used as shields for the knight.

But the numbers of ADVENT troops with him would allow him to be upon them many things over. The closest to him was Dragunov who he converged on first to reduce the numbers in the group. He swung his energy blade cleaving off the upper portion of his body from the bottom without difficulty.

"Dragunov! You fucking traitor!" Bismarck bellowed, but all that could be seen on Barbatos face was his delight at their suffering.

The grenade barrages from Irish reduced the numbers into a mere eight, which would go down further with a little more effort from the rest.

Green was his next target, his Gatling had thinned out those blocking Barbatos and started to impact his shield which flickered meaning it was already in its weakened state. Unfortunately Green never got the chance to destroy it, Barbatos impaled him with his sword.

He was about to pull out his sword but an iron grip prevented him from wrenching his sword clear.

"HAHAHA!...Got you….you little fuck!" He revealed in his last breathes a grenade he kept for himself with the pin and safety handle missing.

A bright light engulfed their surrounding and vaporised the dying Green and the last of the ADVENT troops around Barbatos. Bismarck, Irish and Horus were temporarily disorientated by the close proximity of the blast.

By the time they recovered they noticed Barbatos already upon Bismarck.

"Harold! Watch out!" Horus called out.

"Gurrghh!" Barbato impaled him from his back and twisted his blade.

"HAROLD!" Horus screamed the name of his leader, he felt an uncontrollable rage overcome him. He suddenly couldn't care less about the intel arriving at Central's desk nor them returning to the base, he just wanted this bastard to die! He picked up Irish's fallen shotgun and dashed towards the traitor.

The Prism knight grinned with delight as the cause of his suffering was walking to his death. Horus fired the shotgun dry until it was empty, it so happened that the last shot had torn the shield's protection upon Rune and he was left defenceless but it didn't matter because Horus had run out of ammunition.

The Prism knight charged at Horus to strike him down with the most brutal force. At this moment, and every other that Horus had faced with impossible odds and adversities his sense flooded with that infectious emotion. Horus let out his mischievious grin, a smile that was not to look down upon the enemy but on his own pathetic existence and pushed him to change his fate.

Horus discarded the shotgun and took a horse stance. Barbatos was a little surprised but thought he was accepting his fate and continued his downward cut.

Horus grabbed Rune's hand and twisted it, placing his foot against Rune's torso and pushing him into the air. Rune was shocked at what had happened as the blade left his hand and he fell flat on his face.

Horus picked up the blade and walked over to Rune, he pressed his foot against his should.

"You dare insult a knight's integrity you-gyaaaaaahh!" Rune screamed in agony as Horus impaled his own sword into the knights should and stuck him against the ground. Rune seemed to have stopped moving from shock.

"Fucking trash!" He walked over to the still unconscious Irish, and patted her cheek to lightly wake her.

"Horus?...Mmmm…Ah! What happened?"

"I'm sorry! Harold's dead!" He said in a pained tone.

Irish got up and saw his corpse. "It's alright, he did his best to achieve his mission. You'll need to help him achieve it!"

"Mmm!" Horus answered through his grief.

Moments later the sound of a jet engine filled the air and in the distance the skyranger was getting closer to them.

"It's time to leave." He picked his assault rifle and went to Bismarck's body to drag closer to the extraction zone. Irish had done the same to Dragunov's body and they were down to Green's as the last. Just as he deposited Bismarck's corpse… "Hya!"

He turned around with his assault rifle raised. Irish was taken hostage by the awakened Rune. His eyes were blood shot but still standing.

"Drop the knife!" Horus demanded.

"No! No! No! Drop the gun or I mess this girl up!" Irish teared up at the sight of Horus's helplessness at her mistake. "Horus!"

"Let her go!" He growled at him.

The skyranger had arrived overhead.

"Your surrounded, now drop it!"

"You've caused me a lot of grief today, I've just thought of a wonderful way of returning the favour. I'll let you witness the death of a comrade at in your hands!"

"No. Don't!-"

Rune ran the energy blade across Irish's throat depriving her of her life.

"NOOOOO!"

Rune turned tail and ran with all his might into the suburb. Horus fired at him until his magazine went dry and reloaded while running after him. But by then he was nowhere in sight, he continued to fire in the direction he fled until his gun was empty, he still held down the trigger.

When he had come to terms that Rune had successfully escaped he doubled back to Irish, hoping there was still some life in her that he could save. The skyranger had parked near to them and the fire team had disembarked but Horus was to occupied with the wellbeing of Irish to give a damn.

Irish was gaggling on her own blood and her life seemed to want to end at any moment. He applied pressure to her slit throat and took out his gauzes frantically.

"Irish! Stay with me! Please just stay conscious! Medic! Where's the fucking Medic?!" He called out to the combatants who were stunned by the damaged surroundings and the bodies lying around the park called the team specialist with medical trauma expertise to attend to her.

Irish reached out to Horus who quickly held her hand with both of his. "I'm sorry! I should have checked that I killed him! Please don't leave, Irish!...That's right! When you recover, I can begin teaching you arithmetic and English letter writing! I'll send you off to the Academy under a fake name, you can start studying straight away just remember to write back, Ok!"

Irish squeezed his hand and said over her guzzling of her own blood while shaking her head. "Thank…you…Ho….rus…..I'll…never….for….get….a….fri..end….like…..youuuuu…..!" She said before she stopped speaking entirely, a smile on her face as if she had gone peacefully, her hand slide out from his onto the rubble.

The medic stopped attending to her after checking her pulse.

"Irish…Irish, that's not funny! Wake up! Wake up! Goddamnit! Wake up, Irish!...I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" He cried as he embraced her corpse.

* * *

Alicia's Fire Team had been the one to rescue Horus and Bismarck when the call was received. When they arrived at the site there was a battlefield filled with ADVENT corpses and Menace 1-2's fire team members brought together. Horus had returned to the side of the last remaining member of Menace 1-2's fire team who was on her dying last breaths after chasing a human traitor who had taken her hostage and mortally wounded her.

Alicia did not abrupt the grieving moment Horus had for the girl. They boarded the Skyranger immediately after gathering the bodies and she had dragged Horus on board.

She should feel glad that Horus was safe and sound without even a scratch, but seeing the pain he had to go through was a stab in the heart. Even now he remained quiet throughout the trip back to the Avenger, he did not look up nor even say a word. Heather said he had been through a lot and should therefore not disturb him.

"Aha-…hahahhaha….-ahhahahahhahHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA-….!"

Then halfway through the trip the sound of insane laughter rippled through the hull of their ride. The source was Horus, who was laughing through his mischievous smile but a look of insanity that frightened the crew.

"Shit! Did he lose it?!" One of the combatants said with fear.

"No." Alicia said as she walked forward to him. She seen something that other's failed to. The tears streaked from his eyes as he let loose his cacophony of madden laughter.

She embraced his head tightly against her standing body. Slowly the laughter died down and was replaced with wailing, the cry of a wounded animal.

"It's been hard on you, you've done the best you could that's why it's ok for you to let it out."

Horus pressed his tearing face against Alicia who didn't mind him at all. He swore to himself this was the last time he would cry, he would never let this happen to him again so long as he lived!

When the skyranger landed on the Avenger. And the cargo bay doors opened, Alicia's fire team alighted and went back to the armoury. Horus stayed behind to carry the bodies onto the stretcher to the medical ward for confirmation and processing to be sent back to the families. Alicia couldn't stand just watching and helped him move the bodies.

He was back to his usual expression, that blank face but she felt he was somehow different at the same time. Perhaps his resolve was strengthened somehow by this traumatic event.

"We'll need you to report to Central directly, I'm sure you have something for him, am I correct?"

Horus nodded and accompanied Alicia through the corridors and took a lift to the Control room.

In the elevator he spoke for the first time since returning.

"It's my fault….."

"No it's not-."

"If I had checked that the fucking Prism knight fuck was dead she would still be alive! No! It wasn't just that! If I hadn't insisted on hacking their command and control further, then none of them would have even perish! There deaths will forever weigh on me!"

Alicia did not try to argue, she just listened to him with all the attention she could devote.

"I will have to make amends with them and their family, and I'll do it by providing XCOM with everything I can! But even after all of that, it was also that fucker Barbato's fault. If it's the last thing I do…. I will kill him!" He slammed his fist into the glass of the elevator till his knuckles bleed.

"You idiot! Look what you've done!" Alicia took a bandage from her pouch and wrapped it around his hand.

"You can start by handing Bradford what he needs, that intel was worth the lives of Menace 1-2 so best make it count."

"Thank you, Alicia. And….I'm sorry for my- you know!-"

"That's all fine! Like I said before, you've gone through a lot that you shouldn't have handled by yourself. Next time leave some for us, alright!"

"I'll try."

"There we go!"

"But by that time you'll be left with scraps!"

"Why you-!" She pouted at his teasing.

They reached the Commanders office where Bradford sat anxiously awaiting his arrival.

"Horus, I'm sorry you had to have that as your first deployment." Bradford stood up as they entered.

"At this rate everyone will apologise for something, right?" He wryly smiled.

"It's good to see you have somewhat recovered your wit, now to the more important business at hand. Harold, bless his soul sent me a message that whatever you were digging up had great importance to it."

"Yes, it concerns a turning point in our strategy, we'll be turning offensive from here on out I assume." Horus took out the data pad with all the intel in it.

"That must be some intel!" Central said carelessly.

"That cost us an entire fire team, Bradford!" Obviously angered by Central's careless behaviour.

"Right, I'm sorry."

"In the intel concerns the location and the identity of the Command and control of the entire ADVENT command structure. All this information had been streaming through this guy's head to process the formation of the ADVENT troops. This explains why the manoeuvres and strategies employed by ADVENT seem similar to ours."

"Who is this person?"

"You should know him…. he is after all your missing boss."

* * *

"W-what did you say?"

"I've only gotten a glance at the data I retrieved once, I pulled the details on that person's history!"

"One, it said he had been encased there since 2015. And two, was the combat history with the last occupation listed as XCOM supreme commander. Who else has that title, maybe you."

Bradford dropped his cigar from his mouth and Alicia was just as stunned.

"You…..You did it! You did it! Horus! This truly is a turning point in our stand as you said! Haha…HAHAHAHA! Woooohoooo!" Bradford went crazy with joy.

Alicia had her hands to her mouth concealing the shock that this news brought to the base.

Bradford pressed the phone. "Shen! Come up here this instant!" He put down the phone then pressed it again calling the other chiefs including .

Soon the office was cramped with the heads of departments and the combatant officers.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! I have some fantastic news for you today, just this evening Menace 1-2 went out to respond to a distress beacon had instead returned with valuable intel, although it had cost them their lives the cost was great but the sacrifice had led to the most important find since the revival of XCOM. I have just received the news that our Commander has been found!"

The crowd was quiet for a brief moment.

"Your pulling our legs aren't you, Bradford!"

"Commander as in the Commander?"

"Yes! The commander, the one and only Commander!" He shouted joyously.

The crowd burst into a loud but joyful discussion, some even applauded.

Then one of the Commanders of a fire team asked.

"What was the cost of this intel?"

Bradford stopped ranting out of respect and also because Horus glared at him.

Horus spoke on his behalf. "The complete annihilation of Menace 1-2." He said with painful expression. All the members in the room remained silent as they processed the loss.

The Fire Team Commander walked up to him, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Did you bear witness to their final moments?"

"I'm the cause of their-."

"Don't put insult their worth!" He scolded him.

"They will never die for just a single soldier, so don't sell their lives so cheaply! They died to bring back this valuable intel, so you should remember that is how they died!"

"….. Yes." Horus responded after being enlightened.

"What are your orders, sir?" He turned to Bradford.

"Assemble the Fire Team Leaders for a meeting at 1700 hrs. We'll begin preparation to rescue our Commander pronto! All of you will be given specific tasks in due time, you may return." Central dismissed the crowd.

"Horus stay behind. I need a detailed report on the events, if that's alright with you."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll wait for you at the mess hall." Alicia told him, Horus nodded to her.

She left the room last and left Horus and Bradford to themselves. Bradford sat in his seat while Horus sat facing him.

"Please give me a full detail on what happened."

Horus indulged the details of the mission and the events that transpired. The purpose of the pylon, the appearance of the ambiguous Prism Knight Rune Barbatos and of course the deduction of the intel and hack he had made summing the identity of the individual responsible for making ADVENT so effective as a counter-insurrection force.

"The intel says he's been held in a safe house point under the guise of a newly constructed clinic." Horus ended his report and revealed clues to the location of the Commander.

"The coordinates are in that data pad. Good luck on busting him out!" He got up and walk out of the office.

"Wait! Horus!" Horus halted as he reached the door.

"… Harold was a close friend of mine, he was the partner who brought me from being a sorry ass drunkard to being the Commander of the new XCOM. And now he's become something that XCOM can no longer forget!"

"Nor his family!" Horus said as he left Central's office. He left that cryptic message for Bradford to deal with.

* * *

Horus took the long walk to the mess hall where Alicia waited for him.

"Hey Horus! Back from you mission already? Let's-." When Steph saw Horus she was thankful. But paused as she saw his expression.

"Horus…..What happened?"

The memories of Irish killed before his eyes returned to haunt him. He fought the grief that was returning to him. Steph had observed his pain and went over to embrace him.

"The entire fire team…..gone." Steph understood why now he had the expression that he had and couldn't help but want to console him. "Do you want me to keep up company?"

Horus pulled her hands away from her as he wryly smiles. "I'm fine. Perhaps a few pints will wash it away, but first I need something to eat."

He continued walking along the corridor as Steph watch him from afar with great concern. She ran after him.

"Two people are always better than one, drinks on me just this once." Steph accompanied him to the mess hall. There she was thoroughly disappointed.

"Hi! I'm Alicia, you must be one of Horus's friends. Come on, have a seat."

"Horus, what is your relation with Miss Hunor?"

"Friend and savior." He replied bluntly.

Alicia was a little upset that he had mentioned their relationship as just friend but somehow the word 'savior' had some merits to it as being seen with great regard so she let it go this once.

"Savior, what exactly did she save you from?"

"From ADVENT and myself."

"Horus….." Alicia felt somewhat better.

Steph was a little irritated that Horus was having an unclear but close relationship with another woman so she asked…..

"Is there anyone you fancy at the moment?" Steph had just thrown in the duelling towel at Alicia. Alicia also acknowledged she had done so and accepted it.

"You mean who do I like."

""Yes!"" They both said in unison.

Horus munched down on a loaf, while thinking for a while before saying….

"Heather."

(Bam)(Bam) The girls hit their heads against the table. Neither could really find fault with him because they were inclined to agree. Steph thought Heather was extremely cute, Alicia liked Heather as a friend and Heather would also cover most of her work without complaining.

"W-who would you list as the second girl you like them most?" Steph pushed on unwilling to let it just end like this.

Horus smirked at himself for his own pathetic existence.

"The second would be a girl whose real name I don't even know before she died." He said before mouthing a bite on the salad.

Steph felt truly bad for asking, because it had tripped some unwanted memories.

Horus put down his utensils, he had played this game long enough with the two.

"What do you two really want to know about me?" He asked with a grin.

"We know so little about your pass, because you never indulged us to it. I'd like to know more about you Horus." Alicia said with confidence.

Steph gave her a quick thumb up out of sight which she returned to her.

"My past. I was an only child to a middle class family, to be honest I don't recall visiting any relatives. So it was just me and my parents. My parents often spent a lot of time with me, going to the amusement parks, the zoo, the aquarium, the museum. Everywhere you could think of we went. Those were on of the happiest moments of my life. Then one day they disappear, the only thing I have of them is this medallion, they just vanished without returning. I fell into the care of the new administrations child services, from there I went from orphanage to schools then the academy. I don't recall a time I ever smiled since then, so that's why my smile has always been awkward."

Horus turned to see a sniffling Steph and tearing Alicia.

"I'm sowwee I didn't knooww you had such a wharrd liffee!" Steph cried, while Alicia wiped away her tears quickly as she handed some spare tissues to Steph.

"If you put it like that, it makes my life seem really pathetic!"

"Buuwwtt…Buwwwtt!"

"So why am I smiling now, huh? It's of course because of both of you! With you two in my life, things are as shitty as they use to be!"

This caused Steph to burst into a dam of tears instead. Alicia ended up the one consoling her.

"Look what you did to her!" Alicia scolded him.

"What I did? You were the one asking for my past."

Steph suddenly grasped his hands. "If there's anything you need just let me know, ok? Let Big sis take care of you!"

"Even through your younger than me?"

"Alright, then little sister!"

"Is this going to cost me upkeep? I heard brothers had to dote on their little sisters."

"O-….. Only if you want to!" She blushed after realising what she had gotten out from this.

"Then Horus, I want to go on a date with you," Alicia slyly said.

"Hey! Wait I also want to go! Take me!"

"I thought you were going to be his little sister, siblings don't go out on dates."

"Where are we supposed to go on a date? The Havens don't have much and the cities are watched, the only way is to walk with our rifles slung- oh! Wait! Isn't that going on a mission?"

The girls seemed to understand the point that was coming across and stopped fighting.

"I'm going for a drink, you two wanna come along?" He got up from his seat.

Alicia got up from her seat and slung her arms around his as he walked on to the bar, not wanting to lose Steph did the same to his other arm. At that moment, a new playboy was born in XCOM.

* * *

Everyone in the bar glared at Horus not because he was a player, but because the know beauty Alicia Hunor was embracing him, there was also the rookie that caught many combatants' eyes, Stephanie McGuinness. Lucius happened to be in the bar at the time, when he saw his beloved embracing another man he broke the glass in his hand from his grip. Immediately he rushed over to Horus and bickered at him.

"Can you please chill it, Lulu?" Horus asked of him as he sat at the line of bar seats.

Lucius was of course upset but sat next to Steph. "Oh! From today onwards, Steph is my little sister it seems." Horus mentioned this to get Lucius of his back. Steph pouted when he had mentioned something se regrettably said.

"What? Really? Ah…then I should be calling you brother then!" He turned red.

"Why is that?"

"That's-…That's because-…..uh excuse me!" Lucius left all red with embarrassment.

"Finally got him to leave! Didn't think he was a shy boy."

"Wait! So you didn't mean any of that?" Steph asked anxious.

"What? You really want to become siblings?"

"N-No! No! Absolutely No! Being your sibling would cause me a lot of pain!" She patted herself for avoiding the misfortune of becoming his sibling.

"By the way, I have some good news to share with you. Through a lot of work and equally lengthy convincing I've attained the right to have you join the team! So welcome to Menace 1-5! Yay!"

"How the-….. (sigh) I don't even want to think of the work load you signed us up for." Horus sighed at the increase in his work to perform.

"What? That was a worthy investment! This is the first time I've even attained a good recruit into my group, Tsukuyo always takes the good ones!"

"Maybe you should learn from her." Horus suggested.

"To sell myself like a harlot? Never!" Alicia said firmly.

"They say speak of the devil and he shall appear, or in this case she-devil." Horus tapped her on the shoulder.

"Alicia, dear! So good to hear you have finally put those charms to work! Big sis is cheering for you." Tsukuyo appeared behind her as she waited for the bartender to pass her usual drink.

"I don't need to hear that from you." She said coldly.

"Oho! Cold as ever! Horus, have you considered my offer?"

"I did but it wasn't mine to make apparently."

"Oh! I see. Then, if you still had the power to choose who would you have chosen?"

"….. Bismarck…" He said murmuring. Tsukuyo stopped drinking and placed her cocktail on the table.

"I'm sorry it had to happen to you, dear."

"I'm sorry too."

"Then a toast, to Harold!" She raised her glass.

""""To Harold!"""" Responded the whole bar.

"To Harold, Green, Keller, Dragunov,….. Irish." He took a deeper gulp of the gin with each name.

"I've never seen you this way." Tsukuyo exclaimed.

"What way?"

"So….vulnerable….. it makes me want to take you-."

"Anyway since your part of my Fire Team we should decide on a Call sign for you!" Alicia interrupted her before she lay her hands on him, to which Tsukuyo chuckled.

"It's already being decide, Bismarck picked one I'm sure you'll like."

"That's got me all excited, tell me what is it? Come on!"

"Alright, calm down. You know your call sign is 'Alice' right?" She nodded. "Go on don't stop.."

He shook at her impatience.

" In his words: "When Alice fell into a hole leading to wonderland, she chanced upon a peculiar creature that changed her fate and those around her, it wore the most distinctive mischievous grin that could be worn and its influence on the characters of the story had a profound effect of altering reality on its mischievous whims."" Alicia widen her eyes as she understood the story and the character he was referring to, causing a smile to appear on her face.

"He aptly named me, Cheshire."

* * *

 **I love that story by the way. Coincidence**


	7. Chapter 7 - The Contingency

**I have a plan to add Alien Hunters DLC into the plot and Dr. Cahlen to appear in the story much later.**

* * *

As he promised Lily, on the day he graduated on becoming a rookie he would help her out on her projects, mostly concerning programming while she handled the hardware.

Horus was at the workbench creating an OS for the drone to achieve endless flight time from its aerodynamically instable design, Lily installed repulsers she had salvaged from an unknown source in the blackmarket. She had initially tried to create a program for stable flight but had failed horribly.

The drone that she so proudly named ROV-R slammed against the wall on its first test flight.

"At this rate we should call him DUMB-E."

"It's nothing to do with his OS, it's his curious nature of things!"

"Bumping walls is curious? We should hook up explosives to him so he can be of some use as a suicide drone." Horus grinned at the thought of the drone exploding amidst a group of ADVENT troops.

"NO! ROV-R is a loyal companion! And that will just be a waste of precious resources!" Lily hugged her robotic assistant afraid Horus might secretly plant a bomb inside it.

Horus returned to building code for his latest project.

"Watcha doing?" Lily craned over Horus.

"Building a man-machine interface, allowing a soldier to command the drone to perform tasks like combat, defense and if I finish building a program for it a network intrusion function into the drones. This way any soldier can go into the battlefield as a specialist, he really isn't required to do anything but command the drone to perform the task for him." Horus wished he had the drone during his first sortie, a lot of time could have been saved.

"That's genius! Why didn't I think of that in the first place? Then all their required to do is learn to maintain the drones." Lily imagined the field dominated by the drone assisted specialist performing first aid, network intrusion or pure combat with the drones.

"If the power source were a lot better we could have put more functions on it but unfortunately we don't so the specialists deployed into the field will have to pick the modules they want on their mission carefully."

"You've had this all figured out haven't you."

"I just don't want anyone else to suffer the same mistakes as me!" Horus said in a cold tone while planting the new micro-processor into the drone.

"Hey, ah-...I'm sorry about what happened with Menace 1-2."

"There's no point feeling sorry for myself, I just need to do my best to prevent it from happening again...besides, one fire team for the location of the Commander is a fair trade, right?" He asked in a solemn tone.

Lily was speechless she really could find a comforting answer for Horus so there was an awkward silence between them as they returned to their work.

"I have to say, Horus. I was wrong about you, when you fixed the holo-globe it wasn't because I left it for other tasks, it had been bogging me down for too long, I tried various programs but got the same result. And then one day I entered the Control room to find the holo-globe all done. I didn't want to admit it because this job means everything to me, something my father left for me and I wasn't about to give it up to anybody."

"Like I said before, it was on of Central's nasty jokes. That guy ready needs to cut down on it I tell you!"

Lily chuckled at his remark on Bradford that she also despised.

"At any rate, he should be replaced by the Commander in no time."

"Lily."

"Hmm?"

"I wonder what will the Commander feel, after waking up from his 20 year long dream state? To find himself in a completely ruined world and that he was responsible for the mass genocide of a billion people, insurgent and innocent people."

Lily understood what Horus was getting at, the dilemma of waking up into new and changed world might affect the ability of the Commander to lead them.

"My father once told me, the Commander was a legendary figure. When Central failed horribly during the first days of the invasion, the council sent a mysterious Commander. He solved the high casualty issues, encouraged my father and his rival to work in harmony, commanded the combatants of XCOM. There was really nothing he couldn't do, he was also incredibly shrewd."

"That makes him sound more like an automaton."

"It does doesn't it! But I guess that's just because he is the very best of humanity. So I think these issues aren't too hard for him to handle, at best he will put them aside for the greater good of mankind."

"I hope so, he had been rigged to that conduit for 20 years, processing information non-stop, I wonder if he would suffer from brain cancer."

"I'm sure if he did, ADVENT would have the best medical treatments available to him, after all he is too important to let die slowly."

"Chief!" An engineer walked in.

"Ah Robert! Is it done?"

"Just, here you go." He passed her a box. And Lily handed it to Horus.

"What is it?"

"Open it."

He opened the cardboard covers, inside was a vest and a few boxes with rounds in it.

"Perks of working with the Engineering team, Horus. Robert, explain to our cold-blooded assassin what are the gadgets we have arranged for him today." She said in a posh English accent.

"Yes, ma'am. The vest you see before you what the team dubs the nanoscale vest, due to the level of precision involved in the designing of it. Supposed to be a lighter armor protection under your standard Kevlar to provide additional assurance against ADVENTs ferromagnetic slugs. While not able to stop a slug directly, should it graze you the effects would be reduce to nothing, small caliber weapons can't do a thing to it as well. As for the 'Tracer' rounds, these are self-propelled smart rounds that capture the image of their surroundings, replay back and allow you to have a better image of the target behind walls."

"We can't afford to have someone as valuable as you die in the field, Horus. Would you consider taking an engineering position instead?"

"Not if it isn't yours, Lily!" Horus smiled.

"You know that's never going to happen, if you kill me for this position a hidden protocol will activate and flag you as the number one target to my drones." Lily joked.

"What is a trivial protocol to a programmer of my standards!" Horus played along.

The engineering is filled with treacherous laughter from both of them.

Robert returns to his work leaving the two idiots to themselves.

* * *

Horus was down to meet the team Menace 1-5 at the mess hall for lunch to be introduced as the new specialist of their team.

"... So after these circumstances I'll be part of Menace 1-5 from now on. Look forward to getting to know you all better and fell free to ask me on any matter concerning hacking, drone maintenance or counseling on anxieties caused by Lieutenant Hunor." Horus gave his intro.

"Hey! What kind of an intro was that?!"

"I'd like to book a 2hr session."

"A 1hr session for me."

"Do you accept on credit?"

One after another the members of the fire team were consulting him on appointments

"What is this, a physiatrist clinic?!" Alicia was alarmed at the betrayal of her teammates.

"What the hell are all you grunts doing in the presence of your leader?" A loud voice came from the deceivingly small Sergeant. "Boss..."

"Heather..." Alicia had restored hope through Heather's influence.

"If you want to make an appointment you should be lining up, first come first serve! I happen to have already booked an appointment with Horus beforehand!" The small Heather fought with the combatants to get therapy.

"Everybody..." Alicia fell on her feet feeling betrayed by her comrades.

"Right, jokes aside I will be you eye and ears through the ADVENT network supporting you in every way I can."

"Mhmm! That was really mean of you guys!" Alicia pouted.

"Just give it to them this once, Alicia. You know we've all been working hard for you and the team!" Heather comforted her.

"(Sigh) So with that said Horus will be our new specialist. He doesn't require training from guerilla tactics because no one is better than him in hacking." Alicia informed them of his circumstance for jumping from rookie to squaddie in an instant, it usually required a 2-week training course in the appropriate craft to the class they picked.

"I heard from a friend in engineering you turned ADVENTs robot troops against them once!"

"I think that was trivial to him compared to locating the Commander, Rocket." A member told him.

Horus had become an instant celebrity within XCOM due to his survival on his first sortie but more importantly finding the most important find of the decade, he found the supreme Commander of XCOM who went missing 20 years ago. People could only hear stories from the old veterans but now they got a chance to see him in person.

Central had departed that morning to oversee the operation of retrieving the Commander from stasis. Shen and Tygan were preparing the recovery equipment with the chief medical officer.

"So have we thought up a name for him, ma'am?" Someone asked.

"That has already been determined by Lieutenant Class for him, he called him Cheshire." Heather told them.

"Cheshire?...Oh! Like the Cheshire cat from Wonderland!"

"Is it just a coincidence that we have two characters from the story? Alice and the Cheshire."

"No, it was as intended. Because right now I am the Cheshire of Alice." Horus said to them.

Alicia turned a little red with embarrassment that he boldly said that to them.

"A-Anyway, the next operation has been determined for us. It will involve us responding to a distress beacon."

Horus's ears perked up, the last time he encountered a distress signal it was from the pylon so he had his suspicions.

"Isn't this from the sensory web that ADVENT lay out to monitor our movement?"

"No. This is an old frequency channel they used during the invasion. Meaning there are veteran combatants in need of help. But for now the AVENGER needs to secure the power converter in order to reach that distance approximately 1800km in Argentine."

"What in the world is this AVENGER I keep hearing about?" Was it some sort of fast travel craft he was not indulged on yet because he was still a recruit?

The Fire team began to laugh at him for his ignorance. But he still didn't understand.

Heather walked up to him. "The AVENGER is what your standing on." She said with a smile.

Then it hit Horus hard, there entire base he had been standing on was the ship!

"But how-..." To lift something of that size requires an extremely powerful propulsion and the power source needed to be above the power of several nuclear plants to keep in the air.

"Perhaps you have already noticed the strange structure in some places and the weird composition of its alloy. This entire ship is a repurposed alien supply ship that the old XCOM interceptors shot down 20 years ago but went missing or rather they couldn't pin point the crash till a few years ago."

"The ship doesn't just require a huge power source if that's the case, but a power converter." Horus estimated the likeliness of lifting the base with the resources at hand.

"That's already been settled I'm told. Central dispatched Lieutenant-...Hiram to raid an enemy supply convoy who had one in their manifest." Horus noticed her discomfort at mentioning that Commander's name making him curious of the relation they had that would cause her to feel that way.

"I'm going to check the logs on the weapons and ammo, Heather. Help a girl out, will you?"

"Anything for you, Alicia." Heather responded, Alicia left the bunks to deal with the armskort on their weapon loadouts.

"Curious?" Heather asked Horus.

"About the power converter?"

"You know what I mean you sly fox you!" Heather chuckled away.

"You mean why Alicia reacted like she was mentioning a stalker when she said this Lieutenant Hiram's name?"

"Mooohh! Your no fun at teasing, but your half right on your assumption though at least from Alicia's perspective. I'm heading to the armskort to help her out now." Heather went after Alicia and left him to spend time with the team which he was unconsciously trying to avoid due to trauma.

"Hey, Horus! We didn't have the chance to ask you where you learnt how to do all those things we keep hearing about!" The one nicknamed 'Rocket' was the one who asked him this.

"I was taught this in an ADVENT academy in New Syracuse, in the Mediterranean. Although it's an Italian speaking place, everyone there uses English as their first language to make things easier."

"All the way from there? How did you end up in Adelaide where we found you?"

"It was a job I was tasked to build a report on the number of insurgent activities taking place in that area."

"What was your official job title?" Rocket continued to ask inquisitively.

"You sure ask a lot of questions squirt!" Horus said smiling.

"My name is not squirt!"

"Then give me your full name so I can call you by it."

"It's Dash Gunther, in the field call me Rocket."

"Nice to meet you Dash."

"And I'm Simon Korth or just Luger."

Horus shook his outstretched hand.

"Camille Van Damme, you can call me Broker"

"We would introduce you to more but unfortunately with the passing of Gunman and Spiral there anyone else to show." Simon told him.

"I remember there being more of you than that."

"That was just some guys our leader loaned from the other Fire Teams. Because of the lack of ordnance, we were given that day also because there wasn't any intel on the troop numbers or the layout of the place."

"Wachu have in the box?" Dash being the curious George of the group.

"Just some things engineering loaned me." Horus took them out for Dash to have a look at.

"Woah! It's some kind of bulletproof vest and some special ammo!"

"Your right on both accounts, who's the sharpshooter in the group?"

"That would be me." Camille raised her hand. He handed her the box of smart rounds.

"For me...?"

"These 'tracer' rounds have a playback function so in the event you miss the follow up shot won't, not that that's likely to happen. It also maps out the area from the shot so other targets near the shot will be lit up for you to see easily."

Camille took hold of the box. "I'll make sure they count."

"You can use the vest, Rocket."

"Really? Thanks, Horus!" The young ranger already began to try on his new vest."

"Sorry, Luger. I'm afraid I don't have anything in the box for you. Maybe next time." Horus wryly smiled.

"That's all good, but I except better than these two next time." He said chuckling away.

* * *

Alicia discussed her sortie with Madam Lee on her weapons and ammo procurement, as Heather helped catalog the crates.

"How is your tryst with the young-un?" Madam Lee asked her child.

"T-Tryst?!"

"Are you even trying?!" Hye Gi scolded her charge.

"I-I'm not trying anything!" Feeling flustered at her guardian's push for her to take up a relationship.

"Child, I merely want you not to suffer the same mistake as I did. During my time I was too focused with achieving my goal that I forgot about the people that meant most to me. Your mother having your father was the biggest regret that I suffered in my youth but it was still alright because it was her. Do you want to go through the same instance as me? Could you stand it if perhaps it was Heather who won his heart in the end?"

"Hey!" Shouted Heather from the storage racks.

"Calm down, girl. I'm only using you as an example because you're the only one cute enough to compete with her."

"Oh!...Ok!" A complete change in attitude, satisfied after hearing the explanation.

"I just don't see him that way, Nanna." Alicia tried to get her to stop pushing her.

"There you go again with that defensive attitude, if it's not him that gets taken it will be you!"

"Huh?"

"You know how Laura's child feels about you, he is also a dashing Officer like you, that Hiram boy."

"... We're just childhood friends that's all, I don't feel the same as him and I hope it stays that way."

Madam Lee read her mood and attitude change when Hiram was mentioned and knew something had happened between them before.

"I'm just thinking what's best for you dear, no need to rush." She waved to her.

"First you were telling me not to be too late, then you tell me not to rush! Which is it, Nanna?" She asked frustrated with her hypocrisy.

"That's for you to decide, my dear."

"Then let me decide!"

"You know from what I've heard, that child Horus had been through quite a rough train for a first sortie. He must be blaming himself for being the only survivor to the mission, that poor kid!"

"I was honestly quite scared when he started laughing in the Skyranger! I thought he truly lost it!" Heather jumped in on the conversation.

"That sounds terrible, perhaps I should pay him a visit to see how he's doing." Madam Lee decided.

"He's alright, Nanna. If anything he's furious that he let the man responsible get away."

"Man?"

"I don't think there's a need to hide it, Horus encountered a man leading the ADVENT forces. He called himself a Prism knight, whatever it is."

"Prism Knight? This is the first I've heard of such a delusional character."

"Everyone is keeps saying that, some find it hard to believe the elders have so much trust in a human to run their forces. I feel like something is really wrong with these people on the inside."

"..."

Both Alicia and Madam Lee understood the point Heather was trying to convey. It was like the traitors had given up their humanity.

* * *

The day the Commander had been extracted safely by Bradford personally was a major victory for XCOM. That day, Dr Tygan and Lily performed a reckless removal of the Commander's neural chip and by some miracle he survived the surgery.

The chip that was removed from the Commander was placed in a gel filled beaker within Tygan's workplace next to the alien power conduit of the AVENGER.

"A pleasure to finally meet the brilliant young man responsible for locating the Commander, Dr. Richard Tygan at your service. I've been leading the genetics research field for a number of years until my defection."

"Horus, post-graduate in Computer programming, 1st honours. I fixed the holo-globe under 5 minutes."

The two of them shared a hearty laugh at their friendly competition of achievements.

Horus was called in when a scientist had heard of his programming skills and outstanding ability at decrypting data to solve their problems in unraveling the encryption on the ADVENT datapads and Alien data caches recovered from dead ADVENT officers and aliens.

"I believe you're just the line of expertise I have been looking for to assist me in removing the encryption to these intel datapads the combatants have recovered so far and more to come."

"After the number of times I've decrypted data in the field in brief seconds this hardly feels difficult for me, although some of them may take time."

"Regards, your work helps us greatly at reducing the time we need to spent on decryption and finally focus purely on autopsies and the study of the alien and ADVENT technologies. Of course, your help won't go unrewarded!"

"I wasn't really expecting any reward when I took up this job, Doctor."

"Please, call me Richard."

"Right, Richard. The fact that you can quickly research on the ADVENT and Alien tech allows Lily to build newer weapons and equipment thereby helping me and my friends. Everybody wins, see!"

"..."

"If you say it like that then I have no means of refusing your generosity." Tygan scratched his head awkwardly.

"With the Commander back in action, things are gonna get hectic so you'll need all the help you can get, Richard."

"I appreciate your efforts, Horus. I'm sure the rest of the science team does too."

"...And, done!" He finished his decryption, before Tygan could believe his eyes.

"I...don't believe it, I've never in my 15 years of intense research or study have seen anything quite like what you've done today, Horus!" Tygan had difficulty believing what he saw, he only knew the preson in front of him was either a genius or an alien.

"Eh? I'm only doing what I always do."

"Always do?!" Tygan had heard why Horus had run from ADVENT, now he knew his unique abilities were one of the reasons that he had gotten into trouble the first place. Horus had casually decrypted massive amounts of encryption on the file he downloaded concerning Avatar, even for a genius like him to only decode to that point was telling him the importance of the Avatar project to the Elders.

What was it, he did not know but he knew only time would tell. But the question was, how much time was left?

* * *

The noise in the Skyranger was akin to a group of students going on a class outing. Perhaps it had to do with the new addition to Menace 1-5 in the form of Stephanie in her Rookie status. She had an open personality so it was easy to make friends with her and was an instant sensation to the team except for Heather. She had been manhandled by Steph since the beginning and had hid behind Horus for protection, this only served to excite her further at her cuteness even though Heather was actually the oldest member.

Horus had not spoken on the trip and was adjusting his drone with a screwdriver trying to optimize the repulsor thrust. He had completed the flight and hacking software in time for the deployment and was making the last minute adjustments. Central had dispatched them to answer a distress signal to retrieve a VIP from the area. They could not proceed with the next mission to respond to the old frequency distress call because the Power converter had not been captured and still needed time to install.

"Hey." Alicia patted him on the shoulder to say hi.

"Hey, I'm almost done."

"I'll just speak while you're working, ok?"

"Mmm."

"What do you feel about me?" Horus jutted the screwdriver into his drone and nearly damaged the circuits.

"What a time to ask this."

Alicia gazed at him still awaiting his answer.

"(Sigh)... You're a real handful sometimes, you leave me and Heather to work on your job while you go doing something else. You recklessly jump into things without thinking through or asking first. But if anything, you were there in my most troubled period where I couldn't live with myself another second. And so everything else seems quite trivial. Thank you for saving me again."

Alicia did not know how to answer him after being given such a heartfelt thank you for everything. She was expecting a simple yes I like you or no I don't, because she questioned her own feelings about him. Her heart thumped erratically, she was glad he wasn't looking at her expression right now and on his work because she felt like she could explode at any minute.

After tightening the knobs sufficiently, the drone bobbed off his lap and into the air, hovering about the cabin. The others noticed and couldn't keep their hands to themselves, probing the new hovering assistant of his. He whistled once and the drone returned to his side and went into standby.

"S-So awesome! When are we going to get our own, Cheshire?" Rocket asked excitedly.

"There is no when Rocket, these drones only get issued to specialists. In the future they'll have to pass a drone maintenance course I'll post in guerilla tactics school."

"Man, I wonder if I should switch classes- Ouch!"

"Don't get hyped up about every small excitement! We still need a ranger in our team." Luger hit his head with a light tap.

"Ehhehehe!" He rubbed his head ashamed.

"That's quite the solution you had to our specialist problem, I wonder if you have any more tricks up your sleeve!" Broker questioned him.

"Enough to keep Central happy he won't question my lack of respect for authority, if that's what you're asking."

"Why did you choose to join the combatants in the first place? Couldn't you have done all these things in the safety of the ship?" Broker asked good questions so he felt like he should reward her with an answer at least.

"Have you ever heard of the state of Israel?"

Most of them nodded while the younger ones were baffled.

"The state of Israel at its peak consisted of a mere five million people, surrounding it were hostile Arab states bent on depriving Israel of its sovereignty. So Israel built a defense industry to support their ongoing wars with their Arab neighbors, there had never been a time throughout its sovereignty that there was peace. The only break they had was through ceasefires or truces, but they fought every single day and year. Curiously their arms development was revolved around the military experience of their reservist forces, hence it always fit the build of their troops. Unlike a standard development team which receives a requirement to build a device with certain limitations to its specifications. But because of their method they had successfully maintained their standing amongst their aggressive neighbors. That's what I'm trying to achieve, building weapons and equipment based on the soldiers needs instead of the organizations requirements."

They now had a better understanding of why Horus was risking his life out in the field.

"That sounds incredibly dangerous still, what if you really die?" Luger informed him.

"As long as I have Alice next to me as a good luck charm, I should live to see another day!"

Alicia begun to feel embarrassed every time he mentioned her in some way. What did that mean to her?

The Skyranger reached its destination and dropped the cables from the rear for the Fire Team to rappel down of.

-Firebrand to Alice, I'll sit tight in a safe place until you've linked up with the contact, how copy?-

"Thanks for waiting Firebrand, we'll be quick about it. Alice out."

The time was 10 at night in the outskirts of the City of Dubai, the skyscraper shone like a jeweled star in the night sky.

"Five blocks till the contacts location." Heather read her tracking beacon. "That'll take at least half an hour to avoid patrols."

"Hey! Where's Cheshire?" Steph asked which sent them into a search frenzy.

"What the hell are you looking for?" They looked up to see Horus at the end of the alley to the streets ahead of them.

"I've uplinked to the patrol and comms traffic, this should make it easier to traverse through the streets undetected." He had gone off ahead to hack into the local network without them knowing.

"Why did you go ahead without my say so?" Alicia demanded.

"To save us the time trudging through the streets, the less time we spend here the least likely ADVENT finds out its us and not a small resistance movement."

"Don't go anywhere without me!" She ordered of him.

"Yes, ma'am." He responded bluntly. Alicia didn't know what to think of him at this time, what was he trying to do, playing a maverick of all people.

"Patrol 10 o' clock!" He instantly responded as he watched vigilantly for patrols, before checking his magazine and racking the charging handle.

They crouched behind a dumpster to wait out the patrols. Alicia observed his behavior, she had never seen him like this. It was like he was anticipating something to arrive. Was he watching out for the Prism knight?

She placed her hands on cheeks, catching him by surprise as she looked deep into his purple irises. "Calm down and trust in us, Horus. Remember, you're not alone on this mission. We'll all make it back safely and it will be no small part because of you. Believe in us!" His darting eyes instantly calmed down, it was as she deduced. He was afraid losing them, that's why he went ahead of them to recce. The reason why he even handed over the special items Lily and engineering had prepared for him over to Rocket and Broker. She could help but worry for his wellbeing in the future, would he really throw away his life just for a slightly better outcome in XCOMs favor? She didn't want to imagine a life without Horus, this kindred soul was the only one that had made the days once bitter truly feel worth moving on.

"...Ok..." He closed his eyes as he took her hands of his face.

"Alright. Firefox take point, we'll use Cheshire's coordinated path."

Horus tapped his datapad to transfer the data to Heather's wrist display and she led them through the streets. He still kept an overwatch on the team but was a lot tone down from previously.

"So who are we meeting today, boss?" Rocket posed the query to Firefox.

"Some VIP who has some details to a location concerning the Avatar Project." The ambigious Avatar project the speaker had informed them about further was a global effort supervised by the elders leaving a clue to its importance to them and to humanity.

The movement through the blocks were unhindered just as the route Horus had planned out for them, this really save precious time to escort the VIP out of the area while still under cloak and dagger.

They reached the coordinates at the door of an apartment complex. The rest hid while Alicia and Heather walked up unarmed to reduce suspicion to themselves.

Knocking on the door to their contacts apartment. "Who is it?!" He asked paranoid.

"Menace 1-5, XCOM. Passcode wilbur." Alicia replied.

A sigh of relief was heard on the other side of the door and the latches came undone, the door opened revealing a pale middle aged man.

"I've been waiting for you for over an hour where were you?"

"We were in the UK when we responded to your signal so that should give you an idea of how quick we've been."

"Fine, I've already packed my things and am ready to go!"

"Ok, come on."

The escorted him down the apartment, but at that moment they heard an explosion just across the block, then return fire and mag discharges. They raced down the apartment to where the rest had been positioned.

"Status!" Alicia called out to Luger for answers.

"They just appeared out of nowhere! Probably waiting for us! A-And-..."

She already didn't like the sound of it.

"Cheshire had run off to draw their fire, so that we'd stay incognito!"

"And you let him go by himself?!" Heather shouted angrily at him.

"But he-..."

"Who cares! If we can get to safety unnoticed then why are we still here?" The VIP had no decency about him and only cared for his own safety.

"You! Shut up! You're the last person I want to hear suggestions from!" Alicia growled at the VIP.

"Orders, ma'am!" Luger asked.

"Rocket, take the VIP and head to these coordinates through this route. We are going to get Cheshire!"

They separated into two groups, one heading back to the extraction point, the other headed to rescue their comrade once again.

They reached the point where they found a patrol of ADVENT troops dead at the pavement.

Heather went to touch their skin. "Warm, fire fight only just recently."

"If I were Horus, where would I go?"

"Maybe to some surveillance lamp or place with sentry turrets! He can use them to his advantage after all, right?" Steph had made an excellent point.

"Steph, remind me to reward you when we head back!" She tapped her shoulder before pulling out the datapad to scroll through the map legend Horus had provided to them. She looked for the nearest Sentry checkpoint or surveillance lamp.

"Follow me!"

* * *

Horus was fighting hard with the ADVENT quick reaction forces who were attempting to take back their stolen checkpoint that he had commandeered from the checkpoint guards, assisting him were the sentry turrets and his trusty newly battle proven drone that had just been baptized in battle. Using the drone's surveillance abilities to map and mark targets for the sentry turrets increased their effectiveness through indirect fire.

The sentry turret guns were needless to say efficient in their ability to stop a heavily armed ADVENT trooper and had penetrating power to still hit them behind cover provided they knew where the target was hiding.

His intrusion into the network had also been done remotely by his drone, the software he designed did all the work for him. And the turrets turned on the unsuspecting guards of the checkpoint and obliterated them.

He had the luxury to think about what had happened back at the apartment complex. He found it weird that there was a small patrol heading directly towards the apartment, his map also had also lit up targets converging to their location. It was clear the VIP had been monitored by ADVENT and his removal was flagged.

He thought up all the possible alternatives, if he were to reveal himself alone. They would think it was only him and the rest would have the opportunity to rescue the VIP while he made his way back to the evac point. There wasn't telling how many ADVENT soldiers would be waiting for them back to the extraction point so keeping this group away from them was the best option.

The mag discharges in his direction died down and echoed into another further direction, he lifted his head over the cover to see Menace 1-5 had done the most idiotic thing instead.

He got out of cover and begun a walking fire at the ADVENT troops who turned their back on him to face off with Alicia, they returned fire to him although the drone stayed close to him and used the secondary function of the repulsors to deflect the incoming fire instead.

The ADVENT troops died pitifully from a pincer. Horus rejoined the group.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?! Do you know how worried I was?!"

"You should be escorting the VIP instead of worrying about me! I can escape at any time, but that's not the reason I left the group. There's no telling how many silent Ambushes are waiting to get the VIP. They've had him in their scopes since the beginning, only waiting for us to make the first move!"

"That doesn't mean you can do what you like when you're in my Fire Team, damnit! Are you really trying to end your life that bad?!" Alicia said in an almost crying tone, which made Horus feel more helpless.

"Don't...Just please, don't do it again!" She said in pain before turning around to lead the rest back to the extraction point.

"...I'm sorry." He came over to her side and said.

"I keep forgetting this is a team game, because I felt that I was the only one left from my team." Horus was referring to Bismarck's Fire Team, in his mind he was the last remaining member of Menace 1-2.

Alicia leaned against his shoulder while walking back. "Well you're not in Harold's Fire Team anymore, you're in mine. And you'll do as I say."

"Yes."

The rest of the team were watching their interaction from behind and gossiped on the way back.

"Something's brewing between them I tell you." Luger pointed out the obvious.

"She's just watching out for him that's all." Clarified Heather.

"No. I think something is slowly happening." Broker told them.

Steph was unhappy about the interaction and ran up to them and separated Alicia from Horus by slinging her arms around them.

"That's the exfill, where's Rocket?"

They reached the extraction point but Rocket and the VIP were out of site. Horus moved ahead and found Rocket on the floor next to some ADVENT corpses. The VIP was standing next to him with his shotgun in his hands.

"Ah! Thank god! You're all here! We were surrounded and then he finished them off before taking serious wounds! I- I didn't know how to stop him from bleeding so I took up his weapon and waited for you to arrive!" The VIP informed them.

He ran to check on Rocket. Blood was flowing from his mouth as he looked at Horus then he grabbed his hand to get his attention and looked hard at the VIP. Horus knew something was up, he took out Rockets under shirt and checked the damage done to him and understood what he meant. But unfortunately Rocket was on his last breath and died the very next instant.

"Dash...Dash!" Horus called out. Heather checked his pulse on last time. "He's gone. But at least he protected the VIP."

"It wasn't the ADVENT troops that did this to him." He stood up and walked towards the VIP, noticing Horus was about to do something he turned the shotgun towards him but was too slow as Horus caught the barrel and turned it up in the air. He drew his knife and gutted the VIP down.

"It was you." The group was too shocked to respond, Alicia was stunned by his action and shouted.

"What are you doing?!"

"Urrrrgghhh…You…. damnable…. terrorists….." The VIP mouthed his last words. Horus pulled out the knife after the VIP stopped jittering about and had also died.

"This whole thing was a set up."

"What?!"

"The VIP is an infiltrator."

"How do you-."

"Check Rocket's wounds, you'll find that his ribcage and torso suffer concussive force and internal bleeding. The vest I gave him could prevent penetration from small arms except Mag slugs. If it were ADVENT that wounded him as this asshole said they did, Rocket would be riddled with holes instead. Those wounds are caused by buckshot hitting him at point blank, and the one who delivered it was of course our friendly neighborhood VIP." He pointed at the shotgun that had ended up in the VIP's hands.

"Sonovabitch... right under our noses!" Luger commented.

"Then this whole trip was wasted, it cost us the life of Dash as well!"

"It wasn't wasted and nor was his life." Horus told them as he crouched next to the VIP's body.

"What do you mean?" Alicia did not understand.

Horus began filleting the VIP's head with his knife at the back of his skull. The rest were appalled by the scene.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm removing his neural implant at the back of his head, that should have all the data we originally wanted to retrieve as well as the intentions ADVENT had when they deployed this sympathizer."

"T-Then-..."

"Yes, Dash died to save us from this unforeseen danger." They were all indebted to Dash's sacrifice.

The signal code was given to Firebrand and the Skyranger arrived not a moment too soon to pick them up.

-Where's the VIP?- Firebrand called from the cockpit.

"It's a long story. But for now, report to Central and tell him package has been secure. One casualty."

-I read you, sit tight and enjoy the ride back.-

Alicia sat next to Horus who was cleaning the neural implant with a canteen of water and inspecting the hardware.

Had she been wrong about him all this time? Mistaking his aggressive movements for a suicidal tendency, he had gotten them out of the heat more than once today. Away from the ambush at the apartment, the incoming patrols at the checkpoint, the spy who might have caused serious damage if they brought back with them.

"Was I wrong?..." She asked herself.

"You're our leader, your action can never be wrong. These is just cause and effect, ever action a consequence or a benefit. I need to tone down my independent thinking for a bit. Maybe I should get an implant like this to send you my thoughts on screen every second one comes to mind." He answered her with a logical answer then waved the VIP's stolen implant at her spoiling the serious mood.

She laughed at the idea.

"Don't! Then we'll be forced to see every dirty though you have of the ladies!" She replied still laughing.

"I thought ladies always liked to be in control of men, isn't this a solution?" He continued to wave the implant at her.

There behavior had transitioned into a playful spat. But she was grateful for what he had done for her, she may not fully understand his actions or intentions but she trusted in him to watch over her.

* * *

Alicia and Horus stood before Central, he leaned to the side to see if anyone was behind them. He had been expecting to see the VIP and perhaps collect information regarding the blacksite.

"Did the VIP go to the restroom or something?" He asked them.

"Nope. He's right here." Horus dropped a device with wires sticking out of it, which Bradford realized was a neural implant.

"What did you do to him?!"

"The guy was an agent of ADVENT, through some fortunate circumstance we were able to determine it."

"What?!" Bradford was nervous at the mention of the attempted, this obviously meant he had no countermeasures against this sort of intrusion.

"Relax Central."

"Relax? Do you even understand the meaning of this? They could have already infiltrated XCOM through other means!"

"Unlikely."

"Really?" He said unconvinced.

"Really, this 'spy' is only a sympathizer not a professional spy. The Commander can confirm with you if you're afraid XCOM has embedded agents, he was after all the one who managed these tasks."

Central thought about it for a moment, and calmed himself.

"Would you like to meet him, Horus?"

"No need. He doesn't need to see me to know that I'm doing my part."

"On the contrary, I'd like to meet all my employees that I work with." A voice came from behind them.

"Commander..."

"John." He waved to him to remain seated.

""Sir!"" Horus and Alicia saluted.

"At ease. I haven't personally thanked you yet for pulling me out of stasis...uh?" He walked around to where they were facing Central and noticed something.

"Horus, just Horus, sir." The commander gazed into his eyes to read him, the vets weren't kidding about his shrewd eyes.

"….Have we met?..."

"I don't think we have, unless you saw me when I was intruding into your brain activity to draw out your name and location."

"Mmm... perhaps that might be it! I probably had an unconscious dream about you. Hahaha!" The commander laughed it off.

Alicia was temporarily loss of words when the Commander had thought he had seen him before.

"So, what can I do for you to repay you for your actions?"

"You can start by financially supporting and providing protection to the families of Menace 1-2 that gave their lives to bring you back."

"..."

"Horus that's en-." Central was about to stop him from speaking further but the Commander stopped him.

"Anything else?"

"I'll need funding to support the training of the new type of specialists that can perform network intrusions and technical support for the combatants." He could finally give the specialist class a meaningful new existence.

"I'll sort it out with Lee. Will that be all?"

"I don't need anything else."

"Very well, your demands are quite reasonable. I'll see that it gets done immediately, now if you'll excuse me I'd like to have a moment with Central." He asked them to leave politely.

""Sir!"" They saluted and left. Bradford was alone with the Commander at last.

"Sir-.."

"So that's why you were able to find me like you did! Who would have thought that he would come back to us at a time like this! Now the aliens will truly have to watch their backs!"

"Sir?" Something even he did not have disclosure to.

"A small precaution me and Vahlen prepared in the event the invasion succeeded and we were pushed into maintaining a resistance. Our friend is the very key to that plan."

"What in the world did you and Vahlen do?!"

The Commander turned to him and said.

"What was necessary."

* * *

 **That's right folks, the Commander talks. He needs to in order to develop character because in the main game he plays a significant role in ending the game.**


	8. Chapter 8 - Hiram Obsession

Horus couldn't shake the feeling that the Commander was hiding something from him, acquaintance from the past. He could only imagine one thing.

The disappearance of his parents was linked to the Commander and the activities of XCOM. He had no proof but his intuition told him so, the Commander's behavior hinted it.

"Have you seen the Commander before? No. That can't be right, you'd have to be a four-year-old if you saw him."

"I've never seen him in my life, somethings up with him. He's keeping something from me even though he recognizes me."

"That sounds every ominous, but I'm not going to pretend I didn't see it. What will you do?" Alicia asked him.

"For now I can only wait. There hasn't been anything pertaining to my parents' disappearance until now, and I won't give up till I find it."

"Just please, remember not to overdo it. Things may not be as they seem at first."

"Understood. Shall we grab a bite?"

"Let's! I wonder if they'll serve those German sausages like that time."

"Dessert is the only thing I look forward to."

The made their way to the mess hall to have their dinner, taking the narrow ship corridor to their location.

"Alicia..." A voice called out to her from the corner of the corridor. Turning around, her face changed from its bright mood to a sober one.

"William. So you've retrieved the Power Converter then."

"It's been a while since I've last seen you, is everything alright with you? How's Heather doing?"

"She doing fine, now if you'll excuse me I've had a rough day and would like to turn in after supper." Alicia tried to escape from having a conversation, she didn't hide it from Horus as she glanced at him with her eyes saying everything.

"Oh! Then I'll join you then, we haven't had the time to catch up with one another for a while-."

William turned to Horus.

"Hello, I don't think we've been introduced. Lt. William Hiram, I'm a childhood friend of Alicia here. What say we go to the mess hall to have dinner together?"

"I'm sorry, William. But I would like to have supper with just my squaddie, it concerns some private discussions."

"Oh….Ok! Then, I'll catch you tomorrow then maybe! Please forgive her, she can be quite troublesome some times." He said smiling, Alicia didn't look at him directly any longer.

"I'm a bigger hassle than her!" Horus grinned.

They walked off to the mess hall and had their meal together.

"Don't you want to ask me about my relation with him?" She suddenly asked him as she felt like he might at any moment.

"I've only met him once and I already feel uncomfortable near him. When we were walking off, he had been watching us the entire time we were in the corridor. I don't need to ask about his already flawed character but I know that if you have your reasons for avoiding him then I should too!"

"It's like you can read my mind, I don't know what else I can hide from you now."

"I think that to that guy, there's more to meets the eye. He's an extremely dangerous person, behind that false face that he wears his eyes couldn't hide that nature!" Alicia looked astounded.

"Perhaps it's because of your perspective of things that you are able to see these traits that others are oblivious of." Alicia said as she observed his thoughts, then she confided her story to him.

"We're childhood friends…. Our parents were fellow team members in XCOM so they had a close relation with one another so I naturally got acquainted to them…. Things seemed alright at first. I don't know how to explain this but he started having an unhealthy obsession over me, over the years I could see it happening. When I confided to one of my friends about his personality she didn't believe me and answered him when he called out to her, she disappeared with her family the next day! It didn't help when his mother thought we should be sweethearts due to her closeness she shared with my mother. So I left to join XCOM to get away from him. Things were going fine for a few years, until he showed up a year ago."

"I'm surprised he's lasted this long in an organization with a high mortality rate. Or maybe it's because of his 'predator' instincts!" Horus was not at all afraid of him after the brief summary of the story she gave.

"In any case, please do not provoke him of I fear he might really do something to you when everyone's backs are turned!" She warned him while holding his hands, there was evident fear in her eyes but not for herself.

"Sure, if you say so."

"There really isn't anything that frightens you isn't there!" She smiled.

Horus did not speak for a few seconds as he pondered. "The only thing I fear…. Is reliving **that** moment over again."

"I'm sorry." It had almost become a taboo subject to him that everyone was aware of.

"Don't be, it has nothing to do with you. It's just one of my demons I'll have to conquer one of these days."

Alicia wondered if the feeling she had for him was that of a brother and sister, explaining why she always worried about his safety and his state of mind. More so after that day he broke down after the loss of his Fire Team, at times it would seem he was on a death wish, others were as if what motivates him was rage. It always frustrated her that she couldn't read his thoughts, it seemed almost in constant chaos. And it hurt her.

* * *

True to his word, the Commander re-commissioned the specialist branch as a proper class instead of a mixture of medics and armorers. Horus hand simplified the process of training through repurposing the old XCOM simulator for tactics to explain the uses and applications of the drones to the specialists who would take up network intrusion and to the medics alike, but it was up to them what kind of kit they wanted to take with them. They all had the drone however, which made their tasks much more convenient. E.g. When under heavy fire, a medic who could not reach an injure soldier could deploy the drone on his behalf to assess the injuries before arriving or disperse the biofoam onto the wounds via remote.

During his none duty hours or when he was free, he would sit in the office provided for him in guerilla tactics to answer queries on the class or teach technical handling of the drones. He felt like he had finally earned the right to own that place Madam Lee had provided him.

Tygan would often ask for him to examine dataslates recovered from the aliens' possession, Tygan had never ceased to be surprise at the speed he took to decrypt the files. He even lent the doctor one of his softwares he used to automatically decrypt data, but took longer than him but could be left to run its task while other duties could be performed by the science team.

He was always welcomed into Engineering, his gift with programming help reduce the strain in calculations on the materials tolerances and stabilization software.

Lily's latest build was a kind of powered exo-suit frame for carrying and delivering heavy munitions, incomplete blueprints were pulled from her late father's drawer for her to take up. Horus was responsible for the stabilizing software and the interface for the user of the suit through a custom built heads-up display. So far, four were made in parallel to distribute to the Fire Teams that deployed, Horus worked on a fifth suit using the spare parts that came from developing the four in a standalone project of his. The engineers were only happy to assist in his project and provide the necessary parts. His reason for developing the suit, he knew he would have to face off with Rune Barbatos at one point of time, the knight never forgot him for his failure caused by Horus and he was sure the former was also looking for him since his ethics are closely matched to a medieval knight's chivalry.

The real problem was that most of the firearms at their disposal were not able to penetrate or damage his shield integrity, that was why Barbatos initially stayed in the rear. Because there was no sport in killing them if they couldn't hurt him, the same could not be said later that day after taking barrages of those MEC troopers heavy caliber mag rifles and other heavy ordnance. A combatant could not similarly carry such heavy weapons, but an exo-suit could. At the moment, Magnetic weapons were still under research with Tygan on how it could be fully utilized in the field. So he had to wait for those Mag rifles.

"That's the meanest looking bastard child of the four if I'd ever seen one!" Horus took a moment to see who had entered his work area.

"You should be working on Lily's project for those heavy weapons not here observing others, Robert."

"Just thought you could use some help on your suit."

"The technical part's been done up by Lily herself, if you want to fault her on her work then you'd better wager it."

"Alright, I admit! I was just curious of the progress you've made so far on it. Seems a little different from the rest doesn't it?"

"That's because the role of the four suits are all-purpose in general. This one is built for melee combat."

"M-melee? What in blazes are you trying to fight, buddy?!"

"Overall, all the baddies that like to use their fist. But also that Prism Knight's fighting style, I've recalled his movements during that fight. It was just for a moment that the shield parted to let his blade swing out! If I could attack during that critical moment I would be hitting him in his most vulnerable state without shielding protection. That's why this unit has a quicker speed and reaction time."

"….. Sometimes I'm more afraid of you than ADVENT or Lily! I'm just glad I'm with you and not against you or I would have expired long ago!" Robert shivered.

"You compare me to ADVENT, you don't seem to treasure your life all that well, don't you Robert!" A cold wind blew into his work area emanating from Lily.

"I'll-….. I'll be getting back to my work at hand!" Robert sprinted out of the area.

Lily tracked her hand over the hung exo-suit upon the cradle, an emblem was already carved onto the mantle. A moon shaped smile and crescent eyes, a mysterious and ominous entity.

There's nothing quite like you, Horus. Someone who can build and come up with these designs and concepts, who yet goes out into the field to fight when the stakes are so high. It makes me wonder if you're the same type of person as the Commander, so focused on the task with an indomitable will. She thought these in her head without saying it out loud.

"Need help on something?" Horus asked while working on the optic fiber cables.

"No. Just checking in on things….."

"You too?"

"Robert was tasked with something, I'm the Chief Engineer!" She reminded him.

"Right." Horus went back to his work.

"Horus."

"Yep!"

"Why don't you take up a permanent position in Engineering? I'm sure you could contribute as much!"

"…."

"What do you say-."

"No thanks."

"And why is that?!"

Horus placed down the tools he was using and turned to Lily.

"Do you know why I chose to join the combatants in the first place, Lily?"

Lily paid attention to him, this was the first time she would hear his reason personally.

"On the day of my rescue, Alicia's Fire Team that was sent to rescue me were actually late to the party. There I was staring down the gun barrel of a mag rifle where an unforgettable emotion swelled through me." He laughed darkly to Lily.

"That was the sensation of having a close shave with death!"

Lily now truly understood the frightening truth. He let out the same crescent smile as his emblem.

"And to be honest….. I miss it!"

* * *

For some reason, Lucius was sitting with his Fire Team but not next to Steph which was highly unusual, Kara was in the group as well but that was because he was here.

"Why are you here, Lulu?"

Everybody laughed at the name he was given.

"Shut up! Why do you always do this to me? I'm trying to bond with my unit!"

"I'm sorry, I think I heard wrongly. I thought I heard you say my unit just now."

"Horus, Lucius has been posted to our unit just yesterday. You were busy with Dr. Tygan so we didn't want to disturb you." Camille informed him.

"I'm already disturbed." He played with her works.

"Really, why can't we just let bygones be bygones?!"

"Because I know your fucking stupid and you've even proved it several times to everyone!"

"Why you!-…." Lucius reached from the opposite end of the table but was held back by Simon and Camille. Horus was meanwhile continuing to eat his breakfast porridge.

"So what will he be doing in our Fire Team?" He posed this question to Heather instead of the fellow right in front of him.

"He's our Heavy weapons, Lucius attended the Grenadier course after all."

"That's because I have the strength to carry all the most potent of weapons in the XCOM arsenal!" HE declared.

"Really, I thought it was because you couldn't shoot for shit!"

Seeing Lucius get angry was somehow refreshing, as he was easy to fluster and put out.

"Oh!... Cousin!" Lucius spotted William and waved to him.

"Cousin?" Horus saw him but he was not alone, a group of women followed him from behind.

"His mother is my Aunt!" Lucius informed him before turning to his cousin who arrived in front of them.

"Lucius! Good to see you, how are you? Getting the hang of things yet?"

"Huh, that guys your cousin? He's so cute!" One of William's women admires said out loud, the other women giggled and cooed.

"I'm doing fine, is Aunty alright by herself?" Lucius was almost unaffected.

"My mother is doing fine by herself, in fact I think she returned to the manor quite recently to live with Uncle Karl and Aunt Hilde."

"That's good to hear! I haven't seen you around for ages!..."

William turned to Horus. "Hello again! Mr. Bigger Hassle!" He said with a warm smile on the exterior. But Horus could see his eyes said something else entirely.

"Morning, Sir." Horus answered as if there wasn't anything wrong, but he knew William had intentionally come to talk with him after Lucius invited.

"In the end I never got to ask for your name." William asked while still wearing his handsome smile.

"That's Horus! He's Alicia's specialist!" Lucius gave up his name for him.

"Horus…the Horus that located the Commander?"

"The every same one!" Steph announce.

"Then, if I have any queries concerning hacking or on codes I should like to refer to you then!"

"Only if they're a serious problem for you. If not, any other scientist could handle it. I don't want to deprive Richard or the others of their job."

"Hey! What's with that attitude a girl behind him spoke up for William, although William and Horus were not paying attention.

"You seem pretty close with the science and engineering teams, especially for a combatant. But then, if you could perform these tasks as well as them shouldn't you take up a job as an engineer then? Then you wouldn't have to risk your life all the time."

"The foolish thing about humans is they think they should be invulnerable to the elements. People die all the time. As for my purpose amongst the combatants and not in engineering but also in Alicia's Fire Team, well….. Everyone needs a hobby!" He said with his wide Cheshire grin.

Heather who had been quiet the entire time could see what was happening between them that others could not. Horus and William were waging a silent war with each other. They were declaring their standings to one another, she had been tasked by Alicia to keep Horus away from William, she looked away for a slight moment and now this.

"I see, well. I shouldn't disturb you any longer, maybe we'll catch up another time. Central called me for a meeting with the other Fire Team leaders for an important operation. Ciao!"

The women followed after him bad mouthing Horus in their quiet but still audible whispering.

Horus went back to eating and ignored the loud mouth Lucius who was now paying attention to Steph, while she was more entranced by Heather's small frame. Heather hobbled off to Horus's side.

"I'm sorry, I was careless. Alicia left me to look after you and I just miss such a moment!"

"Don't be."

"What were you talking about?" She knew it wasn't as things seemed.

"He was telling me through his eyes to stay clear from his **woman** and I was telling him I do as I please so deal with it!"

Heather knew the worse had actually happened now she had to maintain vigilance over Horus when he was alone.

Horus and Heather were training in Guerilla Tactics. Heather was training him to observe sword movements and the motion of the human body with the swings. They practiced with rubber swords.

For a person as small as her she was incredibly quick on her feet and her blows were heavy betraying the petite size or perceived strength of Heather, most would think she was the stealthy type of Ranger. Unfortunately, every Ranger could tell you she was the one out in the open cleaving down the enemy.

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Heather huffed as she swung her blade to hit Horus who was unarmed.

"I'm not sure how the Prism Knights are integrated into the Command structure of ADVENT so I can't pin-point how many there are, probably enough to fit a round table from my best guess! These fellas are incredibly tough to beat, the current gear we have isn't sufficient at facing off with them. So I need to prepare in the event that anyone of them engages us!"

Heather didn't like the sound of how formidable the Prism Knights were and yet everyone but Horus discarded them as human sympathizers in ADVENT armor. Heather had once visited the Engineering workshop and saw the Exo-suit he prepared just for that situation, it only served to worry of everyone's ignorance of their threat they posed.

"Ok! I'm ready!" Horus finished applying the medical ointment on his body around the bruises where Heather had struck with her rubber blade.

She realized how dedicated he was to seeing to everybody's safety that he pushed himself to the very limit and it was not limited to them but her as well. He just left that impression that they were all protected by him.

"You've built up a lot of muscle since the time we found you."

"That is no small part due to the training and diet I've been having. I don't think I've eaten this much meat since the invasion."

Heather laughed at his light heartedness.

They continued they're training till the end of the day.

* * *

Alicia was alone in her quarters reflecting on her day and on the mission she was to undertake in the morning.

She wiped down her combat harness with a wet towel to clean the sweat of it and the dust that was settling upon it from several days of idle. She moved on to weapons once she was done. Her rifle was brushed down and oiled to lubricate that parts for a flawless function. Then she looked up on her cabinet, wondering if she should use it.

She placed the rifle inside her locker and reached up to take hold of the long case on top of her cabinet and set it down on her desk. Blowing the thick dust that settled on the top was a sign of how long it had been there. The last gift she received from Lily's Father before his departure from the living, a remembrance from her Father that Raymond had held for safe keeping. She plied the locks on the case and pushed the heavy cover open.

Lying dormant in the silk lined case was a heavily engraved sabre, forged by an unknown swordsmith who they invited to XCOM's base at Mont Blanc two decades ago. There were stories that circulated around the sword, that it cleaved through the armor of the aliens extremely dense alloys with ease and would never dullen. There was also the tale that it was a cursed blade that her father wielded against alien and human which would turn against its user when the thirst was not sated, as it feed off the fear and blood of its enemies. If so then why would Shen pass her something so dangerous, it was a double-edged sword!

She wondered why she had even taken it out to look at it. For some reason her every vibe was telling her to bring it along with her on her sortie as she would need it more than ever.

She looked at a picture that sat beside her desk, the picture contained some of the old Fire Team Noir with a back drop of the French Alps. In it were her father and mother, there was also another woman clinging onto him that she didn't know of and Nanna next to them.

They truly looked blessed with their smiles, if only they knew what was to happen later. And she who was left alone in this world without her parents to raise and love her. She found kinship with Horus because he was in the same circumstance as her, their parents vanishing into thin air without leaving a trace of their existence. But while she had her Nanna what did Horus have, so it seems that she admitted his strength for going out into the world on his own.

Albeit she looked up to him as an example of her own strength was capable of, at its limit and beyond.

* * *

"Big Sky's signal you say?" Asked the Commander.

"Yes. The beacon has been left on for over a month now with no change in strength, we're dallied long enough I think it's time to retrieve him." Central implored.

"I understand your concerns about Ernie but as it stands I can't afford to miss even a slightest detail about this detail. From the duration it has been left on, ADVENT would have already noticed and sent a squadron of fast movers to triangulate and determine the source and yet they have not."

"Then send out two Fire Teams, another to watch their backs while they locate Big Sky." William answered for them.

"And if I end up losing two Fire Teams instead of one?..."

"That won't happen, sir! The jungles in which Big Sky's beacon is located would be too dense for ADVENT heavy infantry or support machines, hence it will be light infantry versus light infantry. But we have the advantage of not being mired down by the soft terrain like the heavily equipped ADVENT."

The Commander tapped his desk while pondering.

"Alright, Lieutenant Hiram! I'll deploy your Fire Team Alongside Menace 1-5 this time."

"Great! I can't wait to let Alicia know." William gave a friendly smile.


	9. Chapter 9 - Betrayal

**Somehow I feel this chapter is a little jumbled but I needed to release it to show my other chapters which i wrote before this one chp 10-13. I'll come back and fix this one again. I hope that it is intelligible enough to understand.**

* * *

"That can't be!..." Alicia couldn't believe the words coming from Central's mouth.

"Are you defying his orders?" He asks.

"No. I would never-."

"Then good, because you'll need all the help you can get. Those forests are unknown ground, there could be anything in there, ever native creatures or hostile tribes that won't understand reason. While it is only a reconnaissance mission I want you to access the flight worthiness of Big Sky's bird hopefully we can bring it to working order once the power crane on the AVENGER is built, but most importantly, determine Big Sky's condition."

"…Yes, Sir." Alicia walked out of the Central's office defeated.

"Well! I look forward to working with you together on the field, Alicia." William was waiting outside for her to get the message.

"I'm heading off to prepare my Fire Team, be ready by the hangar at 10 or I'm going without you." Alicia walked off quickly to get away from him.

That same morning Menace 1-5 and Menace 1-3 were assembled in the hangar. The drone hovered about curiously scanning and observing the new surroundings like ROV-R, he could have sworn it was not like this the other day. Lily must have slipped something inside his drone while he wasn't looking.

The E.X.O-Suit wasn't ready yet so he left it in the workshop under Lily's care. Like the previous time, Lily had handed him newer items to bring to the field. This time it considered of a plated vest that could now withstand a point blank mag slug, they had perfected the composition of the material repurposed from the ADVENT soldiers armour alloy. There was also a new blend of medical salve in the biofoam projector that was more efficient than before, and had some combat drugs in the brew to keep the soldier who received it a temporary boost of energy.

The absence of Rocket's witty remarks and bright chipper actions were dearly missed by Menace 1-5, but was substituted by the incessant jabber of Lucius. Not having the same effect in cheering up the foul mood unfortunately.

Kara who happened to be in Menace 1-3 joined the group to be with Lucius. As it seemed, thanks to Horus's consulting she had managed to form a good talking relationship with Lucius. Lucius wasn't hard to understand, due to his single-minded behavior. All-in-all Kara could still communicate with their team.

"Hey. Look at those clowns…Hehe!" Whispered Menace 1-3.

The same could not be said for the rest of Menace 1-3. Horus recognized most of them as the fangirls of William, turns out they were in the same Fire Team as him. Kara told him that they were on talking terms but they mostly ignored her, better than being bullied he would say.

The women were mostly badmouthing Menace 1-5 who were just five metres away from them and Alicia for apparently winning the affection of William, mostly out of jealousy. Lucius couldn't stand having his Fire Team laughed at in front of him and was about to confront them before Horus yanked his collar, to stop him from humiliating himself. "Be tactful about how you move, always." He told his junior.

The women in Menace 1-3 looked at Horus all at the same time after discussing something together and smirked. Horus returned the greeting with his malicious grin which caused some of them to veer back afraid or shocked.

"Good morning everyone, let's board the Skyranger first then we'll commence our briefing on flight!" William arrived in full gear and informed them.

Everyone from Menace 1-3 boarded the Skyranger while all of Menace 1-5 were still standing in a row.

William turned around. "I just said to board the Skyranger, didn't you hear my Command?"

"Um! Sir-." Heather tried to speak but Horus spoke for her.

"We heard you loud and clear, sir! Unfortunately, you do not have the authority to order Menace 1-5 without Lieutenant Hunor's permission."

William's face twitched so fast that no one saw his annoyance, the friendly face was still intact.

"I've received word from Central to board with Menace 1-5. So I think we should all board without wasting time."

"I think so too, but I have not been given the order to remove myself from the premise by my immediate commanding officer, if you wish to help me out then please contact Lt. Hunor first then she'll send the order by text." He took his defiance without directly opposing William's authority as an officer, which annoyed the latter even more than declining him.

"Oi! And officer is asking you to board the Skyranger! Stop being an ass and get in!" One of William's woman shouted.

"Jeez, you don't have to be so upset about the contact I have with your boyfriend!" Horus laughed at the woman.

"You-.!" The guy ran out of the Skyranger and was one mind to give Horus a thrashing, although Horus smiled because this was the excuse he'd been looking for to put down the woman and the built up tension William had him go through.

"What's happening here!" Alicia called out to announce her arrival.

"Nothing, Alicia just friendly conversations that's all." William laughed off.

"If things are in order then let's board." Alicia waved it off like nothing happened.

"""Yes, ma'am!"""

Menace 1-5 boarded the Skyranger at her orders.

"Hope to get to know the rest of you in due time." He told the women of Menace 1-3 as he grinned threateningly.

On the Skyranger the women of William's group no longer glared at their people nor made any unsavory remarks in their presence with Horus facing them in the cabin space.

He turned to Lucius at sitting next to him. "What did I tell you, tactful about your moves." Lucius looked at him with a new found respect.

"I hope you haven't done something so audacious." Alicia walked over to sit next to him.

"I was just letting the hungry wolves know which hand not to bite." He informed her.

"Still I've heard they said some disgusting things towards our group so your actions have helped us balance out the irregularities of them doing any misacting." Alicia thanked him for looking after her team.

Heather had been silent the entire trip the rest could see she was upset about being unable to stand up for the rest of the team as she also felt disgusted by their looks. Alicia tapped her head lightly as she passed her to tell her it was alright. How was XCOM allowing these folks into their ranks, there wasn't a shortage in manpower even if the selection pool was every small.

The Skyranger had reached its destination, a hidden Haven in the Argentine Jungles. There a guide would take them to the distress beacon. The ropes fell and Menace 1-3 and 1-5 alighted the hovering Skyranger onto the Haven's dirt roads. Most of the inhabitants came out to see what was all the bustle about.

"Heather, check equipment and personnel."

"Yes!" Heather broke out of her earlier stupor and began doing an equipment check with all the members.

"Quite the charming little hamlet!" One of William's woman mentioned.

"It's been undisturbed for a while now." William told him.

"Where's the contact?"

Heads poked out of their house windows to see the newcomers of the community.

The combatants stuck out like a sore thumb along the road to the town center, where they would meet with the communities' director and chief of security.

The sound of weapons being cocked riddled the surroundings. "¡Detener! Tiren sus armas!" Because they had been surrounded by guns pointing at them from hidden places.

"W-William?" The combatants of XCOM were on their guard when the local fighters surprised them.

"Um?...Does anyone speak english?" William asked.

Alicia face palmed. That was why they requested a guide and he wasn't here, this could lead to a shootout especially with William's girls' twitching trigger fingers.

"That's the universal sign for drop your fucking weapons, sir." Horus told him as he taped his should and walked in front of them.

"Alto el fuego. Somos amigos de XCOM!" He spoke back to the fighters in Spanish.

"XCOM?" The speaking representative lowered his weapon and walked up to Horus. He had an unintelligible conversation with him as the combatants of both sides watched their interaction.

"What other surprises does Horus have for us!" Heather asked her superior.

Both sides were tense while their speakers were talking.

"How long it this gonna take?"

"Shut up!" William silenced one of his anxious men as the conversation was taking longer than expected.

"Bajar sus armas!" The speaker told his men and they obediently lowered their guns, the combatants did the same.

Horus walked back to the group.

"Well?" William asked.

"Our contact has been dead for two days now. He got killed by an ADVENT patrol that wasn't supposed to be here."

"Jesus! We were depending on him to lead us through the jungle to the site!"

"So what now?" Alicia asked.

"We'll go to the director's house to discuss further. For now, the deal with the contact does not concern them, so we will need to make a deal with them to guide us there."

"Alicia?" William asked his colleague.

"We don't have a choice, we're already here so we might as well see what they have to offer."

"The fellow told me he would only let five people into the director's house unarmed. That would include me and two of you and your sergeants."

"Alicia? This seems entirely unsafe."

"We'll go." Alicia told Horus with determination.

"Alright." Horus walked to join the speaker and had a small chat with him which led to some laughs and a friendly atmosphere. William and his aide Friday with Alicia and Heather in tow to them. The rest were settled into an empty house to wait.

Horus slowed down to join the group of four as the speaker led them back to the Director's home.

Heather asked him. "Where did you learn to speak Spanish?"

"There was a minority of migrants from Spain in New Syracuse, the academy took Spanish as a mother tongue and I took it up as an elective subject." Answering her query.

"You were a city dweller?" William's aide, Friday questioned him.

"Yes, and look where I am now!" Horus responded.

"I have one question, you said make another deal but what could we possibly offer them?" William asked.

"Don't worry yourself over such a minute detail, I've figured this out already."

They reached the house and the speaker entered the house leaving them at the living room, where two guards stood watch over them.

The speaker returned in a new set of clothing to which Horus smiled.

"Welcome to this small haven ladies and gentlemen, you may call me Andre for simplicity sake." The speaker said with his hand reaching out. The combatants were a little surprised by the speaker's hidden identity.

"Horus, combatant of XCOM. These are Lieutenant Hunor and Hiram of said XCOM and their respective aides." He shook the director's hand and Andre reached out to do the same to Alicia and William.

"He can speak English! So he was just playing with us from the beginning!" Friday announced rudely.

"Can it, Friday!" Heather hissed.

"Forgive me for the charades back there, it's something I do to all newcomers to determine their intentions! Though I'm surprised that one of your men knew our language well enough to calm both sides. You have my admiration, Senor Horus."

A lady who seemed to be his missus brought some tea and local biscuits for them to eat.

"Now to the business at hand!"

Andre discussed the terms and conditions of the arrangement to take them through the mountains and unsafe terrain to the crash site

"I'm sorry, I'm a little unclear of the situation. If the means are the same as the previous arrangement then why is there a need to discuss again, having another person acting as a guide should be all that's required." He was right although a little self-centered the way he put it.

Andre placed his tea cup on the coffee table. "That is true Teniente, but the original deal was to guide seven people through the jungle not fourteen."

William cringed at his reasoning, his interference with Alicia's mission had set them back.

"Is there anything your community is short of?" Alicia tried to be more diplomatic.

"Food is no concern, we have stockpiled surplus that we ship to other Havens for trading."

"It doesn't look like we have much that can convince you to guide us."

"We in the Haven are actually supporting the local resistance forces in the region, Sicario. So intel, guns or ammunition might be of help to them and us." Andre suggested.

"Out of the question!"

"William!"

"Sharing intel with unknown groups, what if it hits us back at home? The same goes for weapons, we need them more in our global struggles!"

"The choice is up to you, my friends." Andre sipped his tea again.

"You said you were supporting the local resistance force but I don't really see a need for a self-sufficient community to support an armed military force without expecting anything in return, please enlighten." Horus asked.

"You are certainly sharp! (sigh) The Haven faces an imminent crisis. There has been a recent build up in ADVENT activity in the region, not too long ago a neighboring Haven got hit hard by a retaliation and was burnt to the ground. We could be next, who knows. That's why we're are supplying the local resistance for protection. Unfortunately, we're not the only Haven that requested this and they have received more than enough food supplies. We have no other resources to provide them for continued protection." Andre explained their dire strait.

"I see, then as a token to begin good relations with your Haven, I'd like to offer you this!"

Horus handed him a datapad.

"This is-….."

"In the device is a program that allows the user to hack any interface of the ADVENT network at a push of a button. You'll get instant intel out of plugging into a local ADVENT network which the resistance seems to have on high demand. Trading this should give your Haven the continued protection." Horus was giving away a means to collect intel easily without compromising XCOM's intel. Simply put it, they gave them a shovel for them to dig their own gold without giving up any of theirs.

Andre's eyes shone as he gazed upon the datapad like an untold treasure. "This-….This would truly allow the resistance to continue their protection over this Haven! You have truly saved us, senor!" He danced happily.

He turned on the device and looked at the screen and then his face changed. A locked panel was displayed.

"Ummm?..." He looked at Horus confused and for answers.

"Of course, you'll have to keep your end of the deal!" Horus smiled. His intention was to give them the means to grant their continued protection, but still had a precaution in case they decided to change their mind.

Andre laughed at the shrewdness of the young man's game. "Alright, I will take you to the site personally. All thirteen people and in return-."

"I'll hand you the keycode!" Horus finished his sentence.

"Deal?" Horus raised his hand.

"Deal!" And Andre took it gratefully.

* * *

They walked back to meet with their combatants.

"Somehow I feel Horus was doing all the negotiating!" Heather said to them.

"Nonsense, I still needed you guys to be there to act as my 'presence' in the negotiation!" Horus affirmed them. He then told Alicia the passcode. Alicia nodded. William was frowning at his close contact with Alicia.

"If you are ready we can leave!" Andre had already prepared his things for the journey.

The group moved in a single file as they trekked through the jungle with Andre, Alicia and William in the lead.

"I still don't see the need why Lt. Hiram's Fire Team needed to go with us, it seemed more like a burden and generally his women are extremely bitchy, they don't look like fighting material!" Heather confided to her team silently.

"You say that only after going to a mission with them once, I'm in the same Fire Team as them for crying out loud." Kara informed her.

"XCOM is looks to the betterment of mankind, no matter what kind of person they are, it's neither malevolent nor benevolent it just ensures humanity stays alive." Horus answered Heathers question easily.

"I can't fault you on that one." Heather replied.

"I'm a bit curious, why do we need a guide if we already know where the old Skyranger is?" Lucius asked.

"We don't." Horus replied.

"Eh?"

"The beacon is merely a blimp in our scopes, the dense jungle is causing it hard to triangulate the position. We can't land just anywhere because of the same problem with the density of the jungle so we need to walk on foot to the location and back to the Haven for exfiltration, that's what makes it so dangerous." Alicia answered that query.

"So that's why cousin requested to accompany you!"

"I think that was one of the reasons. Yes." She said frowning.

Alicia knew Lucius the same way William knew her, though their families. But Lucius was oblivious to the true affairs going on between Alicia and William and so assumed they were still in good relations.

"Hold!" Andre called out from the front as he crouched. Alicia and Horus went to the front where William and he was.

"There! An ADVENT patrol, see the dangers that lurk in this jungle!"

A large contingent of ADVENT troops was seen in the vicinity a hundred metres ahead of them.

"What now?" Horus asked.

"We wait till they pass then cross, we're here for Big Sky not to engage with them." William announced.

"Where are they coming from?" Alicia asked.

"I don't get you, don't they come from those dropships?" Andre asked.

"They still need a base of operations to replenish and to respond rapidly to attacks on their facilities." Horus explained to Andre who nodded in understanding.

"Which way it the crash site?" William asked Andre.

"West along the banks and crossing the cliff. We should be about 15 miles from the site."

"15 miles?" Friday complained in that school girl attitude.

"Doesn't seem bad, we could go there and back before it gets dark." Said Horus.

"Uh-…Oh!" She understood what he meant.

"I do not see why you think this mission will end in half a day." William said to oppose him.

"This is a recce mission, sir. Have a quick look, take some pictures, do some scans, retrieve some artifacts and then we're done. Mission complete! Everyone goes home safe and sound."

"Don't lecture me on recon missions, specialist!" William snapped before moving ahead after the patrol left. Seeming to become more aggressive and hostile that previously.

Horus looked to Friday for answers but she couldn't give any.

Andre led them through a rapid which he had told them was a river bank at first. They had to fond through rapid running water at chest height. They threw a rope across at a tree and crossed the rapids. They needed to be careful because Andre claimed there were sharp rocks under the rapids further up that the eye couldn't make out.

A mixture of them took turns crossing the waters. Accidents happen and one happened when they least expected, Friday was crossing when a log came down the river and swept her.

"Ah!"

"Friday!" William called out to his teammate.

There rest were in a state of stupor, it had happened so fast that none of them had the time to respond. Friday's team through she was a goner as they screamed her name.

(Splash)

Horus had dived into the water after her.

"Follow them!" Alicia ordered. The rest followed after them along the surface.

As he got closer to Friday he noticed she had trouble getting out of the tangle with the vines attached to the log.

"Keep still!" He told her.

He hung on to the log and cut the vine and pulled her away from the log.

He whistled to his drone and the mechanical helper provider a handle for him as the drone competed with the strain of carrying two people against the rapids but managed to bring them to the other side.

"Thank You…" She panted. Horus just got up and walked back up to rejoin them and collect his equipment he discarded to prevent sinking.

As he walked back all soaking Alicia came up to him.

"Again with that recklessness! Why are you so fond of throwing your life away?! What if you were killed as well!" Alicia was plied away by Heather.

"Alicia, what's done is done! But still, that doesn't forgive what you've done, Horus! It could have been a collaborated instead of a one man show that risked his life. Reflect on that!"

Alicia and Heather scolded him for his recklessness, but were thankful he prevented a death by natural cause. William looked from the sideline unhappy. The team were unable to say anything because they really could do nothing, had he not taken action Friday's life might have been taken by the sharp rocks.

"Girls! Girls! In the end of the day they're both, ok! So how about we just leave this incident behind us." William proposed in his friendly smiling way.

"Fine! Let's move on!" Alicia took the lead.

Horus walked the entire way with a pair of eyes on him.

The Friday girl seemed to be upset with him the entire way, he figured it was because it wasn't William that saved her like a knight in shining armor.

They navigated across the cliffs and down into the valley, then they began to notice tracks of a crash landing from the knockdown trees.

"It must be nearby somewhere. Spread out!" William once again took charge.

They went around searching the jungles for clues or wreckages and this went on for half an hour before Horus who was with Heather spotted something.

"Look!"

"Seems like an aircraft wing, let's go!" Horus followed Heather who was quick on her feet.

True enough there as the Skyranger lying in a crater. Heather sent out a message from the comms to Alicia and William who gathered the rest.

Horus was the first to the scene where he climbed down and faced the rear where the cargo doors.

"Can it be opened?"

Horus felt around for the panel for manual opening of the rear hatch. He found it with no problem at all, although the rear hatch just fell down without any support. Heather who was near the hatch nearly got crushed.

"That was close!"

"Where are the bodies?" The rear hatch was closed after all, right?

"I don't know, it doesn't make any sense. Where are Big Sky and the passengers?" Heather questioned.

Horus noticed somethings lying around near Heather. "Heather, below at your feet."

"Huh?" She turned her flashlight to the ground near her. "What in the world are these?"

She picked up some weird looking harpoon like gun, it was a gun because of the pistol grip present. Right when she found the weird gun there was a flintlock like pistol lying next to it, Horus went to the cockpit to look for bodies but found none. He was about to walk away when he noticed an elongated handle from the cockpits control handles. Only it wasn't from the cockpit, he pulled out the handles and it revealed itself to be a pair of strange axes.

What was with these stranger weapons?

"You think these are something Big Sky tried to deliver to us?"

"But then where is he?"

He threw them into a bag Heather provided and carried them on her behalf because as she would say. "Making a lady carry your things is unbecoming of a man!"

Outside everyone was examining the crafts exterior.

"There's no one inside, not even a skeleton." Heather reported to Alicia.

"We found these weird bunch of items in the cargo hold." Horus lifted the rucksack he was holding.

"Keep it with you, we'll bring it back as samples to the crash for forensics." Alicia told him.

"Aye, Ma'am."

William paced about in impatience.

"What is it, William?" Alicia asked annoyed.

"This can't just be it? Where's the pilot and passengers? We need more intel!"

"We already have what we need."

"We're going to locate ADVENTs forward base." He said unsatisfied with the present results, it was as if he wasn't really needed for the operation at all. He refused to show this side of him to Alicia.

"Sir. We have no intel on the ADVENT in this region, making a move on the enemy without supporting elements is unwise." Horus advised William, but it only sort to cause him to be more agitated.

"Don't lecture me about strategy! I'm an Officer of XCOM, And I'm saying we're looking for the forward base!"

Then act like one, Horus thought.

"I am not going further with this mission! If you want to proceed then go on ahead!" Alicia said her fill and walked to the return route.

"Menace 1-5, we're packing up and leaving." She told her team. They quickly gathered and followed her.

"Alicia! Are you just going to leave the locals to be massacred?!" William said to intentionally garner Andre's attention.

"Teniente! Is this true? You must help us! After all I have helped you in finding this craft!"

"This agreement was to bring us here in exchange for the datapad to get Sicario's protection. When we get back you will have it! Obviously, Lieutenant Hiram's assessment of the enemies' true capabilities is based on bias assumption." Horus said without a shed of decency for William's authority.

William grinded his teeth as Horus had mocked him for the first time openly and worst off was that Alicia did not even stop him from saying that. Where was the childhood friend he knew and loved, was this guy, Horus what's causing the rift between their relationship? Then, he must be gotten rid of. Seeds of treachery spawned in William's heart as he gazed at Horus with inner malice and hatred.

"I'm going further into the jungle using these tracks as a guide to the location of ADVENTs base, be ready to pick up the loot when we get back! Menace 1-3 let's move out!" William separated from them and tagged along with Andre who was convinced by the righteous words of William. Menace 1-3 followed him without questioning him, although they were a bit reluctant to venture further than they needed to but since it was William they would do anything. Kara was part of Menace 1-3 so she could not disobey. Friday looked back at them hesitantly but followed her leader.

"Now what? The guide just went off with Lieutenant Hiram, does that mean we are forced to follow?" Luger asked.

"(sigh), Horus did you breadcrumb the trail we took?" Alicia asked.

"Sure did!" He waved the drone to take the lead in guiding them back.

After a long trek back, Horus went over to Alicia's side next to Heather who started to ask.

"Are we really going to leave them behind?"

"He made his choice so stubbornly so why must we follow him off mission?" Alicia said as she wasn't in a good mood.

"That may be so but Menace 1-3 will be dragged into unnecessary danger, the director of Unity Haven is also with them. If we return without him to the Haven the community will no doubt look at us with suspicion. They might even resort to violence based on their missing leader." Horus gave his rational thoughts.

Alicia didn't want to agree with what he said but he was right, they couldn't leave without them, even if William was being a stubborn dick.

"Urgh! Fine! We'll locate him instead."

Heather nodded pleased that her leader was doing the right thing.

They returned to the crash site and took the trail of footprints that went in the direction William and Menace 1-3 went.

(Boom) The sound of an explosion resounded in the distance.

"What was that?"

"Seems like a firefight a mile away!" Broker used her excellent tracking and hearing to triangular the place.

"Lead us!" Alicia ordered.

They were led down the mountain to the valley when Broker was shot in the shoulder by a mag slug.

"Broker! Ambush!"

A group of ADVENT troops burst from their jungle cover and landed in front of them.

"Fight back!" Alicia gave the command and the team instinctively took action through months of rigorous training. Horus stood back to support the team with medical assistance and combat, the drone marked targets from afar.

"Multiple targets approaching our position. They have backup!" He warned them.

The fighting reached a stalemate as more ADVENT seemed to arrive to replace and strengthen their fallen.

"They just keep coming! At this rate we'll never reach Menace 1-3!" Heather said over gunfire.

Alicia pursed her lips, why did they have to go so far for him?

"Let me go to them." Horus told her.

"What?"

"Let me search for them and bring them here!"

"No! It's too dangerous!"

"Alice… we don't know the outcome of Menace 1-3 they could be dead of all we know and we stood our ground for nothing. Let me search for them and guide them here. I have the drone to watch my back."

Alicia's better instinct was telling her not to let him go.

"Trust me." Horus said to her with his grinning smile.

Alicia calmed down a notch and thought about his suggestion.

"Go! And please be back quickly!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"It's not ma'am, it's Alicia!" She smiled back.

Horus left them after Alicia gave him a thick suppressive fire and disappeared into the jungle around the ADVENT forces to where William's IFF was pinging on his datapad.

"William! We can't keep this up! Jasmine is bleeding out, we need to withdraw!" Friday called out to William.

"Don't tell me what I already know!"

"Why can't we leave? Let's just run for it!" Andre suggested from behind a fallen log he used as cover.

"Your welcome to leave if your confident on running through this fire!" He shouted at the Haven Director annoyed by his constant complaints.

William did not foresee this outcome, he had even boldly declared to all of them he would find the ADVENT base but all he found was an ambush that they were cut off from their escape. One of his men were critically wounded and two could not fight due to the sudden ambush. Only him and three others could fight back.

"Damn it! Why did I even think of going beyond the mission?" He obviously knew, it was to impress Alicia but all he achieved was a tremendous disaster upon his Fire Team. There was just no way Alicia and her team would come all the way-

ADVENT who converged on them were being shredded by overwatch fire from a cliff near them. All the combatants were surprised as to who had come to their rescue, the person they had all constantly whispered horrible things about behind his back.

Horus sent the drone to instantly mark all the ADVENT soldiers in the area to Menace 1-3's HUDs and arm displays. The drone provided him protection from the incoming fire as he moved to link with William and the girls.

"You've really stuck yourself in shit this time, sir!" He replied to William without restraint.

"W-Why are you here?! Where's Alicia and the rest of Menace 1-5?"

"Why, did you expect them to see your sorry ass and take pity on you?" William got them in this mess and it was irritating him so he mocked him to release some tension from rescuing them, he didn't want their gratitude anyway.

William was more than upset by the outcome, having failed but to have Horus, the person he hated the most to laugh at his poor position was intolerable.

"Status, Friday!" Horus turned to his sergeant for the situation instead because he saw he was no longer fit to lead them.

"U-Uh! Three wounded, one with serious wounds! We're low on ammo and there's too much volume of fire to withdraw!" For that moment Friday had forgotten that she outranked Horus as he took charge of the situation.

Horus placed his hand on his chin while formulating a plan, the odds weren't good and the enemy had the high ground. That was when he thought about the strategies employed by Alicia's father.

"Friday, take the rest and carry the wounded with you and follow the drones pre-coordinated route, after I give you the signal you will get out of here ASAP, take Andre with you!"

"What will you do?"

"You Lieutenant and I will slowly retreat in an orderly fashion, but now the priority goes to your wounded! Can you do that?" Somehow she felt that she could trust his judgement.

Friday nodded.

"What will be the signal?"

"The giant explosions in the ADVENT line! William give me suppressive fire!" Horus dashed into the fire, he had gone down to calling William by name now and expected him to stay. William was two minds about letting him tell him what to do or running.

Friday was shocked by his recklessness but since he had a plan to back it up it was not completely reckless but brave. A new found respect for Horus emerged in her thoughts.

"Gwen! Gather the team for a withdraw and provide Cheshire covering fire!" She dispatched her orders to her companions before providing support fire to Horus to take the heat from him.

Horus was in a critical situation, the bulk of ADVENT had turned to fire at him because he was a lone target away from the rest, he had to wait for the intervals of suppression fire to move closer. Friday seemed to be the one taking charge and gathering them for the retreat, William was just sitting about next to the wounded which was annoying but there was nothing that he could do about it.

He crept closer to the ADVENT troops and took out his X4 charges and primed them to a time of five seconds and effectively turning them into high explosive satchel charges to be thrown. He threw them in a spread out pattern to annihilate the line of ADVENT and Alien soldiers. When ADVENT troops noticed the charges being thrown at them they had no time to retrieve them and the line erupted into a mixture of dirty and colored blood mist along with the orange flames of the explosion.

"That's the signal, go!" Friday led them to withdraw leaving her leader behind whom didn't seem capable of making his own decisions whether to stay or fight. Then he followed them.

"Sir! Horus needs you for the escape plan, you have to stay and watch his back!" She told him, William looked at her stunned that his sergeant was telling him to stay in this mess even when the opportunity for all of them to escape had finally arrived and he had to stay and watch over Horus of all people.

"U-Uh!- Yes! How forgetful of me! Quickly go while you have the chance, go!" William smiled assuring that he would stay.

Friday looked at her leader she once adored with a bit of doubt of his abilities, but shook it of because he said he would stay. Menace 1-3 quickly carried their wounded and left with the drone to lead them, the drone hovered around them patiently waiting for them and even supported them when they seemed to stumble.

"You're quite a helpful fella aren't you?" She said to the drone who danced at her praise. She chuckled at the innocence of the drone, it was like a pet.

Back where they were previously stuck, Horus was hosing the ADVENT soldiers advancing on their location he had just taken from them. He planted the explosives beneath him while managing the fire on his own.

When the ADVENT seemed the weakest in their advance he retreated at full speed to William's location where they were originally. Seeing him stand there the entire time without helping him was pissing him off.

"We're leaving!" Horus said to him, he didn't care if he were left behind now. The ADVENT who had retaken the former firing position were decimated by his hidden explosives buying them time to escape.

Horus ran with William close by. Until they reached the cliff that they needed to cross to get to where the rest of them were. Standing close to the ledge they moved carefully so as not to drop down.

"We're are the rest presently?" William asked him.

"Just beyond this cliff and three hundred metres West should be where they are waiting, we should get back soon!"

"Yes we should." William spoke in a monotone voice. (Bang) A shot echoed through the cliff.

"Argh!" Horus looked down at his abdomen, he had been hit and was bleeding profusely. He turned around to find William had drawn his pistol and shot him, an insane smile was planted on his face.

"You-!" Horus held his wound with both hands.

"AHahaha! I could never hope for a better situation like this to get rid of you now! To be honest I hated you the moment I saw you!" William kicked him to the ground, Horus rolled over to the edge of the cliff.

"Alicia is mine and no one else's! When I return I'll tell them the tragic tale of Horus who saved my life to get me out of here." He chuckled sinisterly.

Horus laughed despite his pain, which ticked William off.

"W-What's so funny? Your about to die, don't you understand the situation and what's with that grin?!"

"You being with Alicia is the funniest combination I've ever heard of. Can I tell you a secret? She finds you disgusting, she always has…..Ahahaha!"

William kicked him again and he rolled off the ledge and held on with one hand.

"An insect like you should just die!" William once again shot him while Horus was hanging from the cliff and he fell down into the thick vegetation below.

William left with a tinge of discomfort, Horus did not beg for his life and smiled at him the entire time to mock him. For a long time, he thought that smile would haunt him in his nights ahead.

Horus had fallen down the cliff and impacted the side of it which knocked him unconscious as he rolled down further and down into a man-made hole. His body inertia stopped when he hit the floor in what would be a place that would change his life forever.

* * *

Menace 1-5 had cleared the wave of hostiles that ambushed them with good teamwork and precise shots, although the enemy did not falter they were gone.

"Great work guys!" Alicia commended her team.

"Did you see that? We totally kicked their arses!" Lucius was being loud as always but it was alright this time because they had successfully repelled the ADVENT contingent, now all they had to do was await Menace 1-3 and Horus to return.

And right on time, Menace 1-3 returned with their wounded carried on their backs. The drone circled around them and playfully returned to the group.

"You guys are just on time, wait! Where's Horus and William?" Alicia asked concerned.

"Ma'am, we were ambushed a mile back there. Horus came to bail us out on his own and-."

"That's not what I asked! Where is Horus?!"

"He's-…with William! They were covering our retreat, they should be here shortly!"

Alicia's heart quickened, she had a bad feeling about Horus being alone with William.

"I'm heading up to check!" She said instantly.

"That's not needed!" A voice ahead called out.

Alicia looked up to see only William had returned.

"Where-…..Where's Horus?! Answer me!" She asked frantically.

"Alicia he-….." William looked solemn as he was relaying the news. Alicia's mind was in a scramble.

"No-." Alicia collapsed on her knees, the worst had taken place.

"He died to save me." He said solemnly.

These words were like the final hammer to hit the nail into the coffin for her last shed of hope she had for his return.

Alicia realised at that very moment, the love she had for Horus wasn't sibling love but a love for him as a man. And now it was too late, just as her Nanna had once said.

"No… .No!NO!NOOOO!" Alicia let out a cry.

"Alicia." Heather wrapped her small arms around her as she broke down and cried.

William wanted to approach but Heather glared at him and said.

"Just don't!"

(thump) "Steph? Steph! Hey! What happened? Steph!" Lucius called out to her as she had suddenly fainted on the spot.

Friday observed the anarchy after the news was broken out by her leader and watched as many members of Menace 1-5 including their leader were taking a terrible beating from hearing his death. She would be lying if she too did not feel some sort of regret from his death.

Friday turned to her leader and looked at him intensely, he claimed Horus died to protect him but she recalled him leaving William behind like dead weight during the diversion and her leader wanting to leave immediately as well. She could not shake the feeling that his death was somehow caused not by saving William and certainly not by ADVENT from the way he moved but by the very survivor who claimed otherwise.

If that were so, then she would not want to have anything to do with him in the future.

* * *

 **So sorry you had to read through that. The next few chapters I promise wont disappoint.**


	10. Chapter 10 - Trial of the Blood Boa

His body felt lighter than usual, everything around him was a lot larger as well.

"Horus, child." A sweet yet familiar voice called out to him. Standing behind the glared of the sunlight were his parents' body outline.

"As reluctant as we are we must leave on a voyage, this trip has no time no limit. This voyage holds the fate of everything we hold dear to us so we must leave you behind. You are everything we hold dear. Hold this medallion and treasure it with your life. And one day we may reunite with you."

...

...

The sensation of pain returned to his body and his soul which had been in a transcended state had returned. He had abruptly woken from a long but unforgotten dream, a dream of his past.

The agony of the air contacting his flesh was immense. There was a cavity in his chest area from where William had shot him, William! The treacherous bastard, even after he had gone through the trouble of saving Menace 1-3 the coward only thought for himself and what was convenient to him. In any case, he had survived and needed immediate medical attention.

The strength in his limbs was being deprived by his weakened state he pushed himself off the ground and looked at his surroundings. The place he had fallen into could only be described with one word.

Cave.

Evident were the stalagmites and stalactites adorning the sparse cavern. He looked up and saw the hole he had fallen through. And how did he survive such a fall, the items in his rucksack, his limbs were filed with cuts and bruises so he must have slammed against the walls of the hole while falling down which slowed his momentum. He brushed his hand across the floor, looking down he realized his was lying amidst a flower bed with rare exotic plants bunched up which had cushioned his fall also. Miraculously he did not break any bones nor fracture them, there was no blood hemorrhaging too. He immediately took out the medikit and sprayed the biofoam solution onto his chest cavity and the cuts because he was not sure whether any of the plants might contain deadly bio toxins, he had no luxury of guessing.

"Argh!" As he moved his hands up he noticed his shoulder had an acute pain, the shoulder had been dislocated from the appearance of the strange jutting bone. He fixed it with a yank of his arm while using his knee to support.

"I need to get out of this cave!"

[Even through it was you who entered my domain.] A powerful voice rippled through the cavern and his own existence, yet it sounded like a voice in the head.

"Who's there?"

[You will have to decide, this will be the place you triumph or the place that you rest for eternity]

As the eternal voice told him this, the ground rumble and the most eerie thing happened. Shriveled corpse hands broke out from the ground around the area in front of him, the dead was rising from the graves.

[So let us begin! The first trial, limbo.]

The 'zombies' had by now fully emerged from their underground resting places and were limping towards him.

"What the-!"

Horus had no time to continue attending to his wounds, he reached for his rifle. "Eh?" The rifle wasn't there holstered to his leg, he was completely defenseless.

He turned around and scuffled around the rucksack containing the peculiar weapons that were found in the old derelict Skyranger. Pulling out the pair of axes, he wasn't sure what the other weapons did but he had no time to fix or figure out how they worked. The axes didn't require a manual though. A walking dead was already upon him, so he swung the axe to lob off its head.

The axes weight was good for delivering heavy blows and the blade wasn't bad either. More of the zombies converged to him after he killed one of their kind. He needed to think of a plan fast, at this rate if he just concentrates on killing them the normal way he would get overwhelmed.

The cavern was spacious and the stalagmites offered cover from the grabbing hands. He snatched the rucksack and ran through the zombie horde to the supposed safety of the stalagmites. But it didn't hold against the massive pressure they exerted from the stampede, although some were minced into pulp from squeezing. Horus ran again.

He looked around for places to hide or at least high ground. His right arm was not responding the way he wanted it to, because it had just been set back into its socket so he couldn't wield the heavy axes much more with just his left hand.

He saw a ledge overlooking the entire cavern and began his desperate climb to safety, regardless of the pain in his arm and body. Compared to being flayed by the massive horde this was his only chance at safety. The ledge was 10 metres above ground and there were little contact surfaces to plant his feet or hands on to boost him up. He stumbled a few times when the gravel gave way, but the through of death kept him going.

He reached the ledge panting and collapsed fainting from exhaustion. Time passed quickly and the night had settled in, the zombies' wails were still present and the visibility was surprisingly good for nightfall, an unknown substance radiated the entire cavern from the rocky walls, some form of luminescent rock embedded into the walls of the cavern.

He now had the luxury to think about his circumstance. First, why was he here? He had gone back to rescue that ungrateful prick and had gotten stabbed in the back in the end and tumbled down the mountain. He woke up in a cave from which he fell through the sky light that dominated the entire cavern. Then there was that voice, the ethereal voice that resounded in the recesses of his head every time it spoke. But it said I trespassed into its domain, and there was a commencement of a...trial?

He looked down at the zombies reaching out for him, certainly they began to appear the moment the voice declared the start of some sort of trial.

Horus spent more time attending to his wounds and checked his inventory, his drone was nowhere to be seen, his rifle was absent but his datapad and ammunition were still on him. Everything else he packed on the combat harness was also present, food for a 72 hours. Food was the only concern he had now, he had no idea where he was and the trek through the jungle could take him more than his supplies can handle.

He had to get out of here, looking around the cavern for clues to exit. The visibility was low but he could still make out the ends of the walls encompassing the cavern.

"There's-...no exit..." Horus's heart thumped wildly as the thought of being trapped in this cave forever crept into his heart. He sat against the wall of the ledge.

Was he really going to live out his days in the recess of this cavern? Five days was tops that he could live without food and water.

The zombies continued wailing infuriated him to the point that he wanted to do to them what they would do to him. It was like an audience laughing at his pathetic existence all over.

"Shut up!"

The zombies were mindless so his words did not influence them.

He took up one of the axes and flung it at the horde out of anger. The axe spun in the air and lodged itself into the head of a zombie.

"Ha...hahahhhahaHAHAHAHAHA...!" His end was coming and he could see it, he laughed at his own existence once again.

* * *

Two days had passed, as he squandered the time he had left. If anything, he found the constant wailing of the zombies to be incessantly noisy, he couldn't get a moments peace.

If he had one wish now, it would be to destroy them all to return tranquility to the once quiet cavern.

"Since... I'm going to die anyway... I should at least go down the way I want to." He resigned himself.

He took out the strange weapons from the rucksack, their design had a reminiscence of hunting weapons, due to their wooden-like furniture. They weighed almost lighter than the ADVENT weapons and their own weapons.

One of the weapons looked like some sort of nail gun, the other was like a steampunk flintlock pistol. The nail gun had been found with eight stakes made from some alien dense metal. Horus fiddled around with the controls and two metal sections on the front of the gun deployed, making it look like some sort of vertical crossbow.

Curious to find out the power of the weapon he loaded one of the stakes into the gun and walked to the ledge where the zombies were.

He pulled the trigger and the stake flew with immense force and speed that it ripped through several zombies in a row, it was just that powerful. Horus dropped the gun as he was stunned by the devastating power of the crossbolt.

He immediately picked up the weapon and examined it once again, there was a lot of mechanisms he couldn't reach inside because of its overall complexity so he left it alone. His findings were on the controls of the weapon, how to manipulate the gun to load and the safety. The gun would not fire unless the bow was deployed, that was the most important element. He was definitely 90% sure the weapon operated on some kind of railgun concept, the energy used to power it was that alien fuel recovered from dead aliens for their plasma weapons, Elerium. So there was no real worry of whether the gun would fail in firing or shut off from power consumption yet, he turned the weapon off just in case to conserve its energy.

The other firearm was the flintlock-like pistol, because it wasn't a flintlock exactly. The weapon fired using gunpowder but the ammunition for it didn't seem to be present, he took out a cartridge from his magazine and pulled the bullet out of the case to use the smokeless powder. Personally he wasn't sure of the effects of using smokeless powder in a flintlock but this pistol wasn't a flintlock. He pulled out more cartridges to fill the gun's magazine. The weird thing he noticed about the gun was that there was no hole from which the bullet would come out from but there was some sort of criss cross mess on the end like on a mincer. He took the pistol to his live targets and pulled the trigger. A massive flash from the gun blinded the front of him but he heard flesh being shredded from the shot. Something had managed to come out from the gun through the mesh, the gun had also seemed to be powered in some way. But the most peculiar thing happened after he fired the gun at the zombies. The horde seemed to disperse throughout the cavern, like they had just lost sight of him. Could it be the enormous flash from the ignition had broken their sight of him? This meant that he could kill someone and sneak off undetected. This pistol was just as effective as the nail gun.

He had one last axe with him he didn't throw away at the horde. The axe too had unusual properties, it too was somehow powered by the internal Elerium battery for some function. The axe seemed to cleave through flesh and rock like paper. He dare not touch the blade due to its sharpness but he could guess why it had this unusual ability of cutting through hard objects with general ease, from the quiet humming of the blade. The power of the internal Elerium was used to energized the blade at a high frequency, that meant the axe head was a vibrating frequency blade able to cut through other metals without problems or heavy wear to the blades sharpness because it will be sharp indefinitely as long as power is provided to it. Luckily the blade only vibrates when in contact with something, one of the great energy saving features that were on it.

Horus had decided after having an hour of contemplating, he would make his final hour the best time he could have, if he died prematurely that was fine as long as he didn't die of hunger.

Horus slung the weapons onto his body and climbed down the ledge. His noise from climbing down alerted some of the horde to his presence and they began to limp towards him in greater strides.

He walked towards the horde and pulled out the axe he had thrown at the zombies earlier and readied himself for the greatest fight his life would ever encounter!

* * *

"HAH!" He brought the axe down upon the closest zombie to him and comboed with his pistol which sent another bright flash blinding the zombies. He found it useful in providing him with breathing seconds. He ran around the place to gather the horde en masse, his intentions were to bunch as many as possible to use his nail gun to pierce as many as possible. He only had seven bolts with him left but he found out a convenient thing about the weapon that was it was able to reuse its ammunition. He fired the bolt at the horde taking away tens of zombies away from the horde and he repeated the process until he was out of bolts. There were a few that came to him from other angles but they were finished of with the axe.

Unfortunately, he had no time to collect the bolts scattered throughout the cavern. Slinging the bolt caster, as he now called it on the back he drew one of the axes and the pistol.

He began to charge at the group of zombies and began hacking at them and sending gunpowder spraying at them. The zombies were now in close proximity to him, clawed and bit at him, a few were successful. Horus initially wondered where contact would result in him joining the living dead eventually like those zombie movies. But he was about to die anyway so why should he care. While the numbers had dwindled, there was still a sizable amount that could overwhelm him at any time.

His strength was fading fast but it didn't slow him down because he was determined to make his last fight the greatest by throwing every ounce of energy into his body.

His body was succumbing to the pain of the bites and scratches but also his previous wound that might have opened up.

Is this the end? He asked himself, his strength had waned considerably with his constant fighting. Let's see if I can take every single zombie down with everything I've got, he challenged himself.

The hours passed as his fighting continued. He should have been down long ago but the sensation, the rush of combat was getting to him, he grinned madly at achieving his own perfect death.

"Just...ten more..." the last remaining zombies wailed to him as they reached out to bite him to dead. But his use of the axe had become more streamline than before, after swinging the axe a few hundred times he learnt to strike with the least amount of energy but achieving the same or greater force exerted from the blade.

He now dual wielded the axes into and awesome display of fighting style. And then finally, after four straight hours of fighting he cleared out all of the zombies within the cavern. He collapsed with a satisfied smile on his face as he had achieved his own limit, he could die ha-

[First trial complete, proceed to the second trial]

The cavern rumbled and the rocky wall parted near him revealing a secret passage he had not known about before.

"That's right, I finished its trial..." He murmured too tired to get up.

Wait! A glimpse of hope came over him.

"Hey! If I finish your trials, can I leave this place?" He called out to the voice.

The voice did not reply immediately but answered anyway.

[A path will be provided for you if you survive and inherit my legacy.]

Legacy? Whatever! It offered me a way out, I should be grateful. I can't stand a single second more in this place!

Horus lay back to rest for a moment then got up to collect his things, more importantly the bolts for the bolt caster. It had shown to be a formidable tool in removing heavily armed targets, he managed to recover all eight bolts.

He ate his supplies of food and clean water then proceeded further after applying more of the medikit paste to his abdomen covered with bite marks and scratches. He heated a knife on him to seal the cavity wound that had opened as the biofoam couldn't do its job of keeping it closed. Taking a rest again was important for him because he was unsure of what lay ahead in the secret opening.

"How many trials are there in total?"

...

[You have succeeded the trial of Limbo, ahead lies the blood trials of Binding followed by the final trial of Fortitude. If you are worthy, the legacy of the blood boa falls to you, you may go back into the world to do great deeds both terrible and magnanimous.]

"Trial of Binding? Would it be something like that zombie horde I put out of its misery?"

He looked back at the bodies lying around, he was having a hard time believing he was actually capable of doing that. He walked into the exit towards the second trial determined to return to the AVENGER.

"How can you speak English?" Horus had just realized this place was still Argentine so there shouldn't be any English present.

[I am speaking to you from your heart. It is a trait endowed to myself so that as the ages go by and the native tongues change I will still be able to communicate with the participants.]

After considerable walking distance they arrived in another similarly lit up cavern only this time there were man-made structures in it, mostly columns with stone engravings of serpents wrapping around them. It wasn't just the columns, the stepping stones, the walls and the roof was decorated with a common theme, and that was serpents.

"What is this place?"

[You entered by mistake it seems, without the intention of attending the age old ceremonies that once took place in this holy site. This is the temple of the bloody serpent god.]

He had heard from the voice that he had fallen into and ancient temple to some local deity, he just wanted to get out before offending the occupant further.

Up ahead was an elevated altar up the long steps. The ever present luminous stones were there to light up his way, he wondered how this place seemed to be filled with them. Perhaps this was a mine that the ancient civilization built their sacred ritual ground it from. He could hear the trickling of water from where the altar was too.

"What are you?" The most important question, who was this who was speaking to him? From the voice alone he knew no person could even hope to replicate.

[I am the caretaker of the blood serpent trial grounds. And you are an aspiree hoping to become a spiritual flame user.]

"I just wanna get out of this place, I'll deal with your trials then I'm off!"

[Do you not seek power?]

Horus stopped in his tracks.

[That is why you have come here isn't it. Fate had a comical way of bringing you here to change it. The question is, do you want it to change?]

"... I do, every second I spend here I think of how I could have done better, how if only I was stronger, faster, more intelligent than people I only begin to start caring for won't die abruptly!"

[Then proceed. Take a chance at attempting the trials, succeed and you will have the strength that you so desire. Fail, and you will join the thousands who had failed before you!]

"I'll die if I don't get out, I might die if I attempt the trial. Obviously I would attempt it, I have nothing to lose now."

[So be it. Let the trial of binding begin!]

"What does this trial consist of?" But the voice no longer answered him.

He reached the altar, there was a chalice sitting in the middle. He took up the cup and examined it.

He could see the blood stains in the walls of its vessel, at the back of the altar was a fountain but there was one key feature that distinguished it quite clearly from any ordinary fountain.

Because it was flowing with blood, he could tell because of the iron smell that permeated the air around it.

[Drink...]

That's all the guardian told him.

Unhesitant, he dipped the chalice into the pool and retrieved a cup full.

"I can't believe I'm really doing this!" He said to himself.

Leaning the cup against his lips he took in the flesh blood into his system. He waited but nothing happened.

"Am I done with the trial- urgh!...AHHHHHH!"

An unseen flame burnt his insides from the liquid he took into his stomach. The chalice dropped from his grasp and rolled down the steps as he collapsed on his knees then finally he crawled into a fetal position.

[Endure my blood legacy and you shall continue. Fail and you shall immolate from your insides and you will become but ashes.]

The pain was like being impaled by hot iron stakes throughout his body. He let out a blood curdling scream, but the agony was ever present. It circulated his body roasting his organs and veins, mucus and tears rolled out from his extremities uncontrollably. Steam was emanating from his skin to signify the boiling temperature his body was in.

But to escape from this place he would do anything, he had too much at stake back home. And yet the pain and suffering he was going through made him want to end his life that every instant. How long did it last, how long had gone by he didn't know although it felt like an eternity?

It was too much. Too much! "God!... Kill me now!" He suddenly declared hoping someone would respond, it was at that moment that his medallion fell off from around his neck in front of him.

He stared at the medallion with bloodshot eyes, then that memory started to unfold in front of him. The oldest most treasured memory burnt into his mind.

"Hold this medallion and treasure it with your life. And one day we may reunite with you."

His mother told him. But for that to happen he had to return, he had to survive! SURVIVE! Bismarck had once told him the same thing to leave with his live, but it ended in an unforeseen saga.

"Rune Barbatos!" He cursed the name out loud. The man who had taken his friends from him.

That's right, I still need to survive. I still need to avenge them! If not, everyone will suffer because of me! There was Alicia in danger of the machinations of William!

Horus grabbed the medallion and gazed at it feverishly to stem the notions of suicide and remember why he needed to survive this trial. He could feel his vitality burn away but if he didn't get out then it was meaningless.

Survive. Survive. Survive. Survive...

He repeated in his head as he grasped the medallion till his palm bleed staining it with his fresh blood, steam rose from his spilt blood, he was still boiling inside but it didn't matter.

Survive. Survive. Survive. Survive...

Blood poured from his eyes, ears and mouth from the damage it caused.

And after seemed like an eternity...

"I will...SURVIVE!" He shouted with all his might.

The pain vanished quickly and a comfortable sensation took its place. Horus fainted from the sudden change. A smile planted on his face.

He had done it.

[Finally, after millennia. A worthy successor...]

* * *

The case was never officially settled. Horus was listed as KIA as according to William's account and from his fire team members. A ceremony was held in hangar with participants from engineering, the science team and the combatants and general staff.

There were a few people not present at the ceremony, one was Alicia. Since the mission she had not come out of her room, leaving Heather to deal with her work load, but her friend understood what she was going through and took it up willingly.

"Once again he threw his life for his fellow man! Each and every one of you here are because of something he had offered you without demanding anything in return. And that is a rare caliber of man even throughout the ages..." The commander gave a funeral speech personally and left because there were matters to attend to immediately after.

Steph was the other one who took the weight of his death the heaviest. She was out and about but would often forget things right in the middle of doing her duties. The chief medical officer handled her case and had her come to here infirmary for checkups and to monitor for changes.

"Alicia! Child! Open the door this instant!" Madam Lee demanded. But there was no reply.

She was sitting in her bed against the wall hugging her knees. Her room was a mess, as if she had been flinging everything upside down.

Madam Lee heard hands touching the door on the other side.

"You were right, Nanna! In the end I was really too late!"

Referring to the time she had mentioned about her relationships.

"Child...open this door. So I may console you." Hye Gi changed her tone to her loving mother tone she had used on her all those years ago.

The door slides open and Madam Lee caught sight of the dried up tears along her face.

"Come here." She requested as she opened her arms to receive Alicia.

"...Nanna!" She burst into tears once more as she leaped into her arms.

Madam Lee sat at her bedside while she was still pressing her face against her Nanna's bosom.

"I miss him so much!..."

"We all do, dear."

Outside William had arrived at her room though he didn't enter, he had intended to console her but was beaten to it by Lee Hye Gi. His knuckles crunched and teeth gritted at his failure. Who would have thought she would feel that way about that mongrel who was part of her team? He had kept a watchful eye on Horus because he was entering his equation to be with her and he was getting in the way with the latter's logical answers and apparent lack of respect for him. He couldn't find a single detail to fault him through their conversations, the man was incredibly cunning in placing his words so that they weren't directly challenging his position as an officer but still equally as potent in poison of insult. It always agonized him at the end of their conversation. But now he was out of the way and he would have complete hold over his Alicia. Just like he should as his mother had always told him.

"Soon, you will be mine only, Alicia." A crazed look appeared on his handsome face.

* * *

Horus opened his eyes to find himself in silence. He got up and looked around, he was still beside the altar but now another passage had opened. He had survived the consumption of that liquid he now avoided calling blood.

The pain was already gone. In fact, all of his pain was gone. He looked down to where the cavity in his chest from the bullet was gone, his cuts and bite marks, gone. His body wasn't feeling a single pain as it should be, there were no scars on his body either. Could the liquid have caused his injuries to heal rapidly, it felt more like he would have received more damage from drinking but since this was the case he couldn't not be grateful for the situation.

Although his heart still felt the pain he had gone through, it probably took a few years of his life in exchange.

[The blood trial of Binding is complete, proceed to the final trial and be ready.]

Horus sighed at the way the voice was giving him orders like some sort of voice in one of those video games where the protagonist must complete a sacred ritual. That was how he felt.

He picked himself up and checked his inventory, ensuring that his weapons were fully loaded and accessible. He went through the passageway that revealed itself after completing the blood trial.

Horus began to notice as he was walking that he felt taller and his muscles were more prominent as an effect of that liquid. He honestly didn't want another sip even if it gave him superhuman strength this time.

Up ahead was a narrow cave like place with a circular platform and a skylight shining down on the platform. He was honestly sick and tired of caves, what he wouldn't give to see the forest.

As he stepped onto the platform the voice called out again.

[Have you prepared yourself? Are you ready to face the final trial?]

"Yes, how ready do you want me to be?"

[Then for the final trial you will be pitted against myself.] The voice came from his back this time instead of his surrounding so he quickly turned around to meet the voice. He froze when he saw two glowing eyes in the shadows, but that wasn't all. There was an enormous snakes body slithering through the light.

The glowing eyes came out of the dark to reveal what appeared to be a giant snake, the snake was at least a body width of a metre as for the length it was impossible to tell. From the patterns on the snake's body he could tell that it was some sort of boa constrictor, but of course they would never grow this big.

He remembered they had venom as well which he definitely needed to avoid at all costs, the same could be said if the snake wraps around his body, he was a dead man. Strangely he did not feel frightened at all, perhaps the fighting with the undead had worn out his fright of the supernatural as a giant boa was right before him.

"So you're the guardian? And if I want to get out of here I need to defeat you, correct?"

[You must destroy this physical manifestation of myself if you want to succeed my legacy and return home.]

He wanted to try his luck at reducing the demands on him, defeating it and killing it were two entirely different levels all together. If he severely wounded it, the fighting might stop but to kill it would require more than twice the amount of skill and luck.

"Are you sure you're ok with me killing you?"

[This is but a vessel to store my soul, I will not truly die so you need not hold back.] The snake said while slipping its tongue in and out.

Perfect! (Sigh) The hard way it is!

Horus was most concerned about the speed of the boa, for its size the amount of sinew and muscle in it would allow it to propel it at him in an instant, he might not even have time to react.

He checked his weapons one last time, he couldn't afford to make a mistake in this scenario or he will really lose his life for real this time.

The guardian's eyes followed his movements and patiently waited for him as its body was coiled and its head towering above him at least two stories high.

"One question before we begin."

[Speak]

"You keep talking about this legacy but I have no idea what you are talking about, care to enlighten?"

The serpent guardian chuckled monstrously, through its non-existent teeth..

[Defeat my physical form then I will teach you.]

The snake guardian bent ready to lunge. Horus prepared himself for a sprint.

"I'm ready!"

[You shall make the first move]

The moment the serpent guardian said that Horus dashed towards it with the bolt caster in hand. The guardian darted its head at him with speeds that deceived its size. Horus leaped sideways to avoid and the guardian slammed at the cavern wall causing a minor tremor. Horus ran for the back where its tail should have been while it was recovering from its assault. He fired the bolt caster at the end of the tail and it impaled the guardian to the ground like a 'pin the tail on the mule'. The guardian shrieked in pain and turned its head to meet Horus at its tail. It darted its head at him again but this time to snap him in its mouth. Horus drew the axe and brought it down onto the its head and cut the top of the mouth without doing serious damage, but that wasn't the point.

He had successfully kept the head down for him to stake with the bolt caster. He climbed the guardians enormous head with the axes and fired the bolt caster into its cranium to put it out for good. Unfortunately, things are not as smooth sailing as always planned. The guardian shook its head vigorously and made him lose balance. He fell to the floor and the bolt caster lay a distance from him, he quickly ran to retrieve it but the guardian lifted its body to block his path, cutting him from reaching the bolt caster.

The guardian knew of its dangerous ability to penetrate its hard skin and wouldn't allow him to fire a second shot.

Horus's initial plan was to impale the serpent body from the tail to deny movement, then somehow have the head lured down from its high point and strike the head from the back. Now the worst had happened, he was separated from the only weapon that could take it down in one shot.

The guardian flayed its head at him to try and squash him, but he barely dodged. What he wouldn't give for an X4 charge right about now, it could blast this snake into smithereens. Unfortunately, he used it on the ADVENT column previously. The only weapons he had were the strange armaments he recovered from the old Skyranger.

He took out the second axe to use side by side with its twin. Awaiting the snake head to try to crush him in its jaw. He danced to the side and delivered a heavy blow every time the snake snapped at him.

But it was tired of receiving and not giving. The snake body coiled around him and closed in. "Shit!" Horus used the Axes to climb before the coil completely tightened but was unable to make it out fully and quick wittedly used the axe to jack it from crushing his stuck leg. But he was in a helpless position for the head to strike him again.

[It seems this is as far as you go. Such a disappointment, yet you even resisted my paralyzing gaze.]

It was doing that? He thought. The snake head reared to give space to build momentum and flung forward at him. Horus quickly pulled out the last remaining weapon in his arsenal he had yet to show the guardian. The trigger was pulled and the gunpowder ignited and created a huge muzzle flash that blinded the snake and it spasm about while the grip on Horus leg slowly slipped. Horus took the axe and flung it at the snake's eye and it lodged itself in its eye. The snake jittered about from the pain. As Horus searched about for the one weapon that could kill the serpent.

He found the bolt caster and immediately loaded a bolt in it and aimed at the serpent's head. The bolt catapulted towards the snake from the side of its head and pierced straight through the lower jaw but not the head. He loaded another and fired at the same destination and it lodged itself through its last remaining eye. The snake was heavily injured but not out of the fight yet. As he loaded the fifth shot the snake listened to the metal surfaces contacting and attacked the general direction. He was knocked back and lay on his back after he finished loading. The snake listened in again for noise, Horus saw this and quickly stilled his heart and motion the snake slithered around to hear for him.

Then Horus thought of an idea, he waited for the snake to reach a certain place and threw his axe on the opposite side of him to alert the snake of his decoy presence on the opposite side. The snake bought his strategy and moved towards the location. Horus aimed the bolt caster at the head and pulled the trigger which sent the bolt straight through the cranium and instantly the snake stopped moving. He fired off his last shot at it just to make sure.

Collapsing a third time for over exerting himself today. He breathes a sigh of relief when the guardian's physical form failed to move again. The snake began to evaporate into the air like it never existed.

[Well done. Truly a magnificent show of force and skill, you possess a keen intellect to go with your agility. Perhaps I could make a spiritual flame wielder of you yet.]

The guardian's voice returned to its neither here nor their ethereal presence.

"Am I done?"

[Yes. The final trial has been complete. You are now entitled to receiving the legacy.]

"Can I just opt to get out of here?"

[No.] It responded sharply and rather aggressively

[One hundred years. One hundred years! Do you know that's how long since anyone has visited this place, let alone pass it?]

The guardian's voice became less serious than it was throughout the trial and more of a lonely person.

"So you mind telling me what is this legacy you keep talking about?"

[A-ah! Yes! This way.]

Another passageway door hinged open and Horus went through without hesitating.

[The legacy I'm about to give is the spirit emblem of the blood serpent.]

"Sorry, you've lost me. What's a spirit emblem?"

[Argh! How can humanity of this era be so forgettable about the power that has been protecting this world from other worldly forces?!]

The guardian said in an angry tone.

Otherworldly forces? Like the aliens?

"There are no records in history that talk about this spiritual power, it was always assumed that was merely mysticism or religious practices."

[Really, those ungrateful curs! Why didn't they do a good job at spreading the influence of spiritual power? (Gibberish)!]

The guardian's behavior was now akin to a grumpy old man, it was strangely comforting for Horus.

"How many of these sites are there around the world?"

[Ten! Yes!- No, wait! Was it eight?]

"(Sigh)... Let's pretend there are ten in the world that are evenly spread out. Of course, this power would be recognized by the people that live near it. They'd probably worship the spiritual power seeing as it was supposed to be a guardian force as you said and would become a state religion. But times change. The cities may adopt other religions especially like what happened in the dark ages when the Christians went around burning other religious groups they classified as pagans. Perhaps one of the spiritual power religions got caught in it. The point I'm trying to make is that if the necessity of the sites does not fulfill the function it will be forgotten."

[F-Forgotten? NOOOOO! This one can't be forgotten...that can't be...]

The voice sounded grief struck after receiving such a news.

[AH! But it's fine now! Your here, so you can inherit the spiritual flames of the blood serpent and spread the word again! Hahaha!]

"This spiritual flame, what does it actually do?" He knew it was some sort of power but what was its true function.

[The spiritual flame is both a weapon for offensive and defensive purposes. Depending on the spiritual emblem you receive, like in this instance the bloody serpents you will be endowed with the traits that are exclusive to the said emblem. Other spiritual emblems from other sites have their own ability and so will yours.]

"Does it make me stronger? And what are the weaknesses of having it?

[It can make you stronger, faster and more durable when you activate it but as for weaknesses, to maintain the spiritual flame requires reserves of your own innate spiritual power and could run out quickly depending on the person.]

They reached another platform with diagrams and formations carved into it. The area was dominated but four statues of serpents gazing upon the square.

[Hop on board and we shall begin.]

Horus stepped onto the platform and had triggered a phenomenon of rising lights.

[Your name, boy...]

"Horus."

[What do you seek from attaining the acknowledgement of the spirit emblem?]

"The power to save my friends, to destroy ADVENT and the Prism knights!"

[As he says, let the power of the temple bestow the blessing onto this young warrior!]

A burning sensation took hold of his arm it felt like a molten barbwire wrapped around it, he clasped his hand in pain. Symbols began to engrave itself onto his left hand in intricate patterns, compared to the pain from the blood trial this was shy in comparison. So he endured it.

[The trials have made you stronger both in mind and in body. I hope that someday you will spread the existence of us spiritual entities once again.]

"I'll try, no promises."

The guardian chuckled satisfied with his response.

[Then arise! Champion of the bloody serpent!]

The engraving on his hand completed with quicker speed and he recognized what it had formed, a boa constrictor like the guardian's fleshy body that wrapped around his hand.

His world became dark and he fell under a sleeping spell.

Waking up in a cavern with the light shining from the entrance. Horus got up and walked towards the cave entrance, he saw the jungle down below and beyond. He had made it out finally. Now it was time to return to XCOM.

He looked at his arm that had a tattoo of a boa binding around his hand and noticed something that was not there before. A bracelet with a blood red gem that was held in the centre of its weave. Perhaps it was a farewell gift from the guardian, who knows.

Horus climbed down the slope from where the cave entrance was after rechecking that everything was with him, he now only had one day's worth of provisions left so he had to find food and clean water somewhere from the wilderness but that was no problem for him now.

(Bang) (Gunfire)

Horus heard a firefight happening nearby, that was probably ADVENT engaging a resistance group. That meant that he could regroup faster than he anticipated. "What luck!" He rubbed his hands together.

Horus dashed through the thick foliage of the jungle following the sound of the battle taking place, he hoped that he would be at least one resistance fighter left or else returning to their base would be a hassle.


	11. Chapter 11 - Resistance Lore

The Sicario patrol scouting for ADVENTs base of operations in Argentina were promptly ambushed by heavily armed ADVENT and Alien forces.

Maria who's led the group had sent her fastest leg back to the base to report their encounter a perhaps rescue them, that was three hours ago.

They were cut off from the exit by fifteen ADVENT troops and aliens most notably the Vipers which frightened her people the most, ADVENT was aware of this and had employed them in almost every patrol.

"Hermana! We're on our last magazine!" He right hand man told her over the shooting.

"Stand firm! If we retreat now, the populous will be in danger."

"Maria, Ariel is wounded bad! She needs medical attention soon!"

Maria pursed her lips, help should have arrived an hour ago but she knew what was delaying it.

"That bastardo Dominique! He wants to leave us for dead!" She cursed the base sub-commander for his cowardice and treachery.

"Hermana! We can't hold them off for much longer, when is help arriving!" One of her men shouted.

"There is no help..." She murmurred helplessly.

As she stood up from cover to fired her rifle for its last magazine worth a stray mag slug pierced her stomach and she fell back onto the dirt floor.

"""Maria!""" Her resistance fighters called out to her.

"You alien bastardo!" An angry fighter came out of cover to charge at them and got dragged towards the Viper by its tongue for a killing blow.

Maria was bleeding out fast but the sight of her men being slaughtered brought an untold feeling on misery upon her.

The same Viper noticed her lying on the ground but not dead. It slithered towards her hoping to squeeze the life out of her. The Viper's movement slowed down as she realized this was her time up.

"I'm sorry Fernandez...Mama can no longer be with you!" She said goodbye to her son as she closed her eyes.

The atmosphere changed rapidly as she heard the Viper receive a hit and fall to the ground next to her motionless, she opened her eyes once more to find the ADVENT forces in anarchy.

Reinforcements?

"Holy mother! What the-."

The ADVENT forces were firing at a single target that danced about amidst their ranks hacking them down like some sort of killing machine.

Her men stood stunned by the scene, a lone man engaged the ADVENT troops on his own. The scene stimulated vigor in her soul and body. The most profound feature she caught of the lone fighter was his white hair as he cleaved the ADVENT soldiers down with his axes. The ADVENT soldiers returned fire hopelessly, but none of their shoots met its target. The lone man grinned with delight, it was like he owned the battlefield...

"Like a white haired death god..."

"Maria! Maria, get up! We need to go now!" Her right hand man tried to carry her while the lone man fought the ADVENT forces.

"Paolo, wait! I think he's helping us."

"That monster! No one can say for certain what he's really after, what's a man doing out here all the way out in the wilderness, it doesn't feel right!"

Paolo took her away as he gathered the group to withdraw.

Maria looked back at the lone man and the person caught sight of them leaving as he finished off the last remaining soldiers. That moment their eyes met, she had never seen eyes like that before. "Purple..."

"Sorry! What, Maria?" Her adjutant heard her murmur.

"Purple eyes..." She had never seen such captivating eyes.

The adjutant Paolo ignored her murmurs and continued running.

"Hey! Wait!" A voice called out to them from behind.

The group turned around with their rifles aimed. It had been the lone man who removed the entire ADVENT contingent on his own.

"Stay where you are, monster!" Paolo shouted.

"Look, you're with the resistance, right? I need someone to take me back so I can contact my comrades through your dispatch!" He said trying to ease up Maria's group with his arms waving in front of him. Then his posture turned rigid as he noticed something.

"And why would we trust you to keep your word?!" Paolo called out.

The lone man's action was quicker than they could comprehend what had happened because he threw one of his holster axes at them.

They were shocked by such a lightning movement, as the axe went pass them and hit something behind them.

They raised their guns to fire upon him but a wet thud fell amidst them from the top. A Viper had been carefully hiding in the tree up top ready to ambush them.

The lone man walked up to Paolo as he pulled out his axe lodged in the Viper. "Perhaps you might want a guard to watch over you while we return." He smiled in a weird but awkward way, like he wasn't used to that expression.

"Paolo. He saved my life...our lives! That should be enough to trust him." Maria felt the pain from just saying a few words.

"Maria!" Paolo placed her down on the floor so he would not press on her wounds any longer.

The lone man walked up to and crouched beside Maria, he took out a device and sprayed the solution onto her wound. She could feel a cooling feeling blanketing her insides, the bleeding stopped and there was a rush of energy returning to her body.

She tried to move but the pain was still there but had significantly lessened. He proceeded to pick her up, placing her close to his chest.

"I'll take care of your leader, you wanna lead the way?"

The group discussed amongst themselves and turned back to him and Maria.

"Follow us, we'll lead the way." Paolo said on behalf of all of them and then he took point.

The lone man nodded and followed them.

"Thank you..." Maria said.

"That's alright, I just needed you to help me link up with my organization."

"What would that be?"

"XCOM."

Maria's group had heard him and turned to look at him with disbelief.

"What are you doing out here alone then?" One of them asked.

"Tris!" Maria called out anger by his insensitivity.

"I got separated, they though I died and they went home."

The Tris snorted at his answer.

"I'm sorry for their attitude, we are grateful for what you are doing! Oh! We've met but you haven't given us your name yet, I'm Maria. One of the sub-Commander's to Sicario."

"Sicario, huh?...Horus."

"Nice to meet you, Horus!" She smiled at him.

The trek through the jungle back to the base was long and treacherous but in his arms she didn't feel any sort of sudden jerking or slipping. On the contrary, she enjoyed being carried the entire trip back, it was a shame the trip wasn't long enough.

* * *

After meeting up with the local resistance group, who he though was a very hard to please bunch. He was on his way back to their headquarters, he had stuck gold and had rescued their top ranking officer and would be easier to establish comms with XCOM with their persuasion.

He had used up the medikit canister to seal the woman's wound, but it was a good investment. He would get in their good graces.

From the fight with the ADVENT forces he had discovered a few changes on his body. He was faster and stronger, and his movements were not wasted in killing them. Small part was thanks to his weapons, but the fighting in the trial grounds had helped him build on fighting prowess. He actually took on an entire unit of ADVENT on his own, the prospects for him in XCOM would greatly increase and his fighting chances against the Prism Knights would be improved. He could begin studying the weapons and looking to replicate them for the rest. All of them were extremely useful.

He named them appropriately:

Bolt caster, crossbow like device that lobs a dense bolt similar to a kinetic energy penetrator shot from the main battle tanks of the 20th century.

Shadowkeeper pistol, as the name implies preserving one's stealth. This is achieved with the charged shot from the gun which creates a gunpowder flash at the enemies, blinding them for a second and losing sight of the user.

Hunter's axes, the pommel and the handle were curved like a woodsman's axe allowing it to be used for multiple purposes, cutting down enemies to chopping wood. It even permitted being thrown at targets with surprising effect, the axe is aerodynamically stable in spin. The blade itself is a high frequency blade which allows it to cut through almost anything like butter and only activates when the blade contacts something allowing extended uses.

"You've been really quiet this whole trip, are you alright?" The woman he held asked him.

"I'm alright, um.. Maria was it? Just thinking about the events that led me here that's all."

"Do you mind me asking, what were you and XCOM doing all the way out here in the jungles? It's alright if you don't want to answer though."

"That's alright, one of our old beacons from the pre-invasion days lit up from a unique dropship of ours not far from here."

"Uh-hmmm... so Horus, where were you from?"

"New Syracuse, I was a fugitive on the run then XCOM took me in."

"All the way out in the Mediterranean? Must be a beautiful sight!"

"How's your body holding?"

"It's actually not as bad as it should be, whatever you used on my wound really soothes it. In fact, I don't feel in agonizing pain anymore, I could even walk on my own!" She later regretted what she said.

"Should I put you down then?"

"No! Please...argh! The pain!" Horus watched her comical acting and chuckled to himself. Most of Maria's men laughed at their leader's hilarious speech.

"Don't worry, I won't let an injured person walk on her own." He said to assure her.

"Mmm... thank you. To be truthful I'm starting to like the feeling of being held by a strong hero such as yourself." She purred.

Horus laughed as if he heard such a ridiculous joke. Maria was a little taken aback by his reaction.

"I'm sorry to rain on your parade but I'm far from being as you described, that's not even my specialty." Horus told her as he recovered from the misunderstanding of his actions.

"Taking on an ADVENT patrol on your own without backup, and with melee weapons at that! It was honestly empowering to see you fight, like a white haired god of war dominating the battle."

"White hair?" Horus wondered what she was referring to. He looked at her reaction, she stared at him and then his head wondering where she had gone wrong.

Horus moved her to one hand carry and reached to his back to retrieve his axe. "My what great big strong arms you have!" She cooed. But Horus ignored her and pulled out his axe and turned the axe head side to face him, using the reflection he could see why she had referred to him as white haired god of war.

All of his hair on his head, including his eyebrows had turned white as snow. The effect of enduring a great amount of stress at any given time. It must have been when he drank... the blood of the serpent. The agony to kill himself that he overcame on his own had caused his hair to lose its color causing a wash out of white due to the life threatening trauma he went through.

"That's some tattoo you have there, Horus. It almost looks like the native-." She was referring to the tattoo on his left hand.

"Blood boa." Horus finished her answer.

"Oh? Is that the name the tattooist named it? I might want to try some of them as well, it looks really detailed!"

"It hurt like hell when he engraved it, I felt like my life was about to be blown out!" He was referring to the guardian's way of burning it into his skin.

"That's mostly how some first timers to tattoos react!" She laughed, oblivious to how he had really attained it but Horus wasn't going to tell her what really happened.

He decided to stick with the 'I got separated and am trying to regroup with XCOM' story because he would be treated like an insane person for mentioning the Blood serpent's temple.

And he was not sure how they dealt with crazy people on this side of the world.

* * *

The sight of civilization was a sight for sore eyes to him. Even if civilization was reduced to camps in the wilderness. In front of him was the base of the popular resistance of Sicario.

He switched his carrying of Maria to a supporting of her body with her arm over his back, Paolo supported the other side.

"Thank you, senor." He said to him. At least he had the decency to say it, better late than never Horus thought.

"Don't mention it."

The small camp began to bustle as word that lieutenant Espina had returned after supposedly being reported as KIA. Many came to pay their congratulations on returning alive, many were also surprised by the presence of Horus and were suspicious of his origin.

A short and fat man came out of the tent straight towards them with a smile on his face.

"Maria, so good to see you alive! We feared the worst!"

Maria released her hands from Paolo and Horus's shoulders and walked toward him.

Paolo leaned to Horus with a smirk. "Enjoy the show!"

Horus looked at him a little confused but soon his query was answered by what Maria did next. She punched the fat bulbous man in the gut forcing him to kneel from the assault on his stomach and proceeded to beat him by kicking him non-stop till the guards pulled her off him.

The fat man became a piled of bloodied bruises, rearing frantically to get away.

"You bastardo! You dare show your face after you deliberately called off my request for aid! I should kill you now on the spot if you weren't related to Rodrigo!" She shouted at his pathetic cowardly existence.

"You mad whore! It this how you talk to others who show good faith to you?!" He complained.

"Good faith!" She snorted at his shamelessness.

"Good faith is the man who singlehanded saved our lives by destroying the ADVENT patrol on his own!" She pointed to Horus, she was trying to raise the camp's awareness of his deed's as a sign of goodwill in helping him in the future.

The fat man glared at Horus before he left, he was responsible for ruining his actions at ridding Maria from his presence.

"Come! Let me take you to the Commandante..." She collapsed from exerting herself, Horus was quick enough to catch her from hitting the dirt.

"Maria! You've overexerted yourself, have you forgotten you were recently wounded? Horus help me bring her to the medical triage." Paolo said as he supported her again.

Horus nodded and helped her to their next destination.

The medical tent was in the same condition as the rest of the camp. The resistance was really running on bare necessities, a bit contrary to Andre's difficulty to ask for protection because Sicario was already full of food supplies.

"Bring her in!" An old woman told them and they obeyed.

"Place her there!" She pointed to an operating table and they stepped back to let the old doctor do her work.

She cut away the shirt fabric that covered the wound and immediately noticed the biofoam. She turned to them.

"Where did you get this biofoam?" To her common knowledge the camp had no such advance medical supplies as this.

Paolo pointed Horus as he wasn't sure about the outcome.

"I've not seen you before, where have you come from?"

"XCOM." The staff and patients turned their heads at the name whispering to one another.

"What is a combatant of XCOM doing all the way out here?" Seemed that she was the only one who believed he was an XCOM Combatant.

"I got separated from my unit during a recce mission here."

The old woman analyzed him for a while then noticed his tattoos and her eyes widened.

"You! Come here quickly!" Horus was wondering what was the problem, but she snatched his hand when he got closer to her.

She called some doctors to look after Maria as she examined the markings.

"Where did you get this?" She asked in a stern voice.

"Some guy in the neighborhood- oww!" She hit him on the hand like a small child had told a lie.

"Come! We will talk in private!" She dragged him away to a quiet place behind an old column from some ruins.

"Now tell me." She demanded.

"What kind of impression do you have on these tattoos?" He was interested on why she was so fixated on the tattoos.

"Because they're not tattoos!" She told him the most unbelievable thing.

"What?"

"You were there weren't you? That could be the only reason you have the marks of the blood serpent." He was surprised to hear it from her own mouth.

"How-?"

"My family clan are the descendants of an ancient warrior culture that revolved around the temple. Although it's been a taboo to mention due to the spaniard influence in the past."

She showed him a small mark tattoo on her forearm. It had similar patterns to the one on him but was less complex and incomplete only encompassing her wrist.

"You are a spiritual inheritor of the blood deity, are you not?"

"The guardian said something like that I think..."

"Guardian?! The sacred guardian still lives?!"

"No, it kinda asked me to kill it during the last trial." The old woman shivered as he mentioned slaying her sacred existence so casually.

"Relax, it said it was only a vessel for its soul. After killing the body, it still talked to me like nothing happened."

"I never thought I'd see a successor to the blood legacy. Many of my ancestors have tried but they could never succeed, and now the new generation dismisses it as folktales and legends!"

"Great! Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of exchanging fact and fiction with you. I need to regroup with my unit."

"Alright, I'll take you to see the commandante. After the surgery."

They returned to the triage tent.

"What was it like in there, I had only heard stories from my elders." She asked while half mumbling.

"Do you see this?" He grasped his hair. "When I felling the trial grounds I still had my natural black hair. You're a doctor, tell me what kind of condition causes human hair to turn white overnight!" He said angrily. She obviously knew the condition he was referring to.

"I-...forgive me for being so insensitive, my curiosity has touched onto some mental scars of yours. I'll arrange a meeting for you with the leader of our resistance. Ok?" Horus calmed down, there was no use blowing his top at this old woman.

"Please do."

"Mama!" A little boy ran past them into the tent. But the old woman grasped his collar.

"Hold, young Fernandez! Your mother is going through a very critical moment in her surgery."

"But- the other kids said told me my Mama was gone! I refused to believe it! Please let me see her!" The little boy begged as he tugged the old woman's surgery apron.

"Your mother's fine, when she was carried back she still had the wit to tell jokes to us." Horus squatted down to say to him.

"Really?!"

"Not kidding, but the surgeons have a job to patch her up and it needs to be done with absolute concentration or they risk hurting her. Do you want your mother to continue getting hurt?"

The boy shook his head several times.

"You're a good child. Just wait patiently and she'll be right with you." He patted the child's head.

Horus looked to the old woman as she returned to the tent to take control of the surgery.

Horus waited outside with the boy, and the child stared at him.

He wasn't as clean as the rest of the fighters, he had been fighting non-stop, ADVENT, zombies, a giant fucking snake. His shirt was torn and tattered with the sleeves missing although his harness for carrying his weapons was fine. Alien blood and dirt caked his being.

He played with his hair, still in disbelief of the change. He guessed this was the price to stay alive than not.

"Why do you have white hair, senor? I thought only old people have white hair." The boy asked curiously.

"White hair isn't limited to old people, kid. There are some who inherit these traits in their blood and naturally have it."

"Are you one of those people?"

"No, I'm afraid not. This was caused by something else entirely." He laughed at himself.

"Did you save my mama?"

"I did."

"I had a feeling you did, you have this legendary hero feel about you and you don't seem from around here!"

"Pffttt! Hahaha! Legendary hero?" Horus couldn't hold it in, like mother like child.

"I've never seen those kind of weapons before, can I see?"

He was a little skeptical about handing his weapons to a kid.

"Fernandez, don't trouble the man! Go home and wait, she'll be back soon after before night, young man." He sent the kid home first because his mother would not be out immediately.

"I'm sorry about that, would you come with me back to my house?" Paolo returned at some point and invited him over so he didn't refuse.

"What's with the sudden change in heart?"

"I'm sorry for my previous behavior, I was thinking in the best interest of my squad and of Maria and Ariel. You look like you have gone through hell, can I offer you a shower?"

"Um...thanks. It's been a while."

Paolo really did have a house, behind the camp was an inhabitance that was living their everyday lives. He wanted to avoid calling it a Haven and more like a village in a military fort. Most of the inhabitants were the family members of the resistance fighters after all. Paolo introduced him to his wife before sending him to the bath, when he was finished, his wife arranged a set of clothing ready for him, truly hospitable. Paolo was actually a nice guy as he talked with him, but he was over serious in the field, but at home he was a loyal husband. They were pretty open about intimacy and his wife, Mia were all about kissing each other.

"Who is the commander of this camp?" He decides to ask about the camp.

"That would be Commandante Rodrigo Delgado, he has two lieutenants that manage his resistance forces, that's Maria Espina, our commander. And then there's his cowardly worm of a cousin Dominique Delgado, he runs the logistics and has been quite unwilling when it comes to getting the needed supplies that we need to continue warring against ADVENT in this region!" Paolo slammed the coffee table to show his anger from mentioning that guy.

"Was he the ugly fat guy, Maria beat up despite her injuries?" Horus killed his rage and made him and his wife laugh at the thought of his leader beating him.

"Si, it was! (Sigh) Can I offer you lodging here for the time being while you find your way, senor Horus?"

"If you and your wife are ok with it then I can only gratefully accept. I'll see if I can repay you before I leave." Horus accepted, but Paolo waved his hands saying he would not accept his gifts.

"We should check on Maria, she should be out by now."

Horus and Paolo waved to his wife before leaving, even leaving for a few hours was difficult to get him to leave his wife alone.

The old woman was smoking a pipe waiting outside as the surgery was over.

"Chief, is she alright?" Paolo asked.

"She is in no major condition, partly thanks to the biofoam from him. It helped preserve her condition and prevented blood lose or deterioration of her organs. You saved her life, life in the camp would have been tough without Maria. You have our gratitude."

"Can we see her?"

The old woman waved her pipe to the tent allowing them to enter.

They slipped through the tent and came at a bad time because she was dressing her topless upper body.

""Sorry!"" The both of them turned around.

She chuckled. "I wonder if Mia knew?" She suggested cruelly.

Paolo fell to his knees and begged.

After their fiasco, Maria turned to Horus.

"Do you want to see our commandante?"

"As soon as possible."

"Paolo, could you tell my son that I'll be returning at nightfall?"

"Yes, Maria!" Paolo left.

They walked with the old woman to a two-storey villa well-armed with guards.

"Halt! No weapons beyond here!" A guard reached for his axes without asking.

He drew it and pressed the back of the axe head on his neck. "You forgot to say please!" He smiled adding to the terror.

"P-Please surrender your weapons, or we will not allow further entry."

"Enough! He is a friend, don't waste our time!" Maria ordered.

"Y-Yes Ma'am!" The guards returned to their sentry positions and let them through, they did not dare to eye Horus because of his frightening visage.

They reached a set of doors and the guards standing there pushed it open for them. Inside they saw Dominique and an older gentleman who gave an aura of authority.

"Rodrigo, I must protest we- You!" Dominique turned around to see Maria behind him and he stepped out of the way.

"Commandante."

"Maria, good to see your alive. Dominique had been telling me about how he would like to relieve you of some duties because you were to injured to handle them." Dominique turned pale when the Commander revealed to her his devious actions.

"Really? That's really kind of you, Dominique but I can handle all my responsibilities as I'm fit to handle them." She said with a sarcastic tone.

The old gentleman gazed upon Horus.

"Commandante, this is Horus. He saved our lives from an ADVENT contingent when we were cut off and the reinforcements did not arrive as it should have!" She glared at Dominique during the last sentence.

"Horus of XCOM, I'm a specialist in network intrusions of Menace 1-5."

"XCOM, huh? How is old Fields then?" The commander seemed to know Fields.

"If you ask how he is, he's cranky but doesn't act his age. And he has a bad habit of smoking indoors and when he's stressed out." Horus knew the Commander was testing him and he gave his best description of Fields.

"Hahahaha!... It really is that old bastardo! And he didn't change one bit!" The Commander held his gut as he laughed.

"How do you know instructor Fields?"

"Ha! My friend, I was one of the earliest combatants of XCOM and later an instructor alongside him."

"Come to think of it he did mention a person by the name of Delgado, I would assume that was you."

"So the old man still remembers me then?"

"He's not that old!" Rodrigo laughed again.

"So Horus, what can I do for you?"

"I need to send a comms to the AVENGER to tell them I'm alive."

"AVENGER?"

"It's our brand new flying mobile base of operations."

"Really? The times have move so fast!"

"Also the Commander is back!" Rodrigo was visibly shaken by what he just said.

"Did you just say tha-."

"The Commander is back, yes! Some intel was found and we retrieved him from an ADVENT clinic."

"This- Is great news!"

"It's good and its bad. The Commander was used in some kind of Elder scheme and they aren't too pleased we took him from them. They've accelerated a project know as Avatar which is bad news for humanity, that's why I need to get back ASAP!" He hoped that revealing this knowledge would help gain their trust a little bit.

"Then what to you need?" He no longer dallied.

"I need a long range comms array to send a message that I'm still alive to the AVENGER."

"Unfortunately I can't provide you with such an instrument because we don't have one."

"Sir, I have a suggestion!" Maria opened up.

"Yes?"

"Shall we include him in that mission?"

"That mission…"

"Rodrigo, this is insane! He's an outsider, there's no reason to have him know about these details!" Dominique said.

"Dominique, Shut Up! Sir, the factory we are assaulting must surely have a comms relay powerful enough to send a message. If we include him, we can enter the base with ease! I can attest to his strength, just this morning he rescued us from an ADVENT contingent on his own!"

"On your own? If that is true than we might have hope for the mission. How about it, Horus? Do you want to cooperate, we'll allow you to join us in the mission to sabotage the ADVENT weapons factory and you'll have access to the comms array!" Rodrigo asked.

"Deal." Horus hardly hesitated to give his answer.

"Sir, we'll need to give him access to the device for hacking the network too."

"Mmm."

"Absolutely not! Rodrigo, might I remind you that the only reason we dare to infiltrate the factory is because of the device. He's just an outsider, there's no need for him to have it!"

Maria grinded her teeth as she glared at Dominique.

"What's this device I keep hearing about?" Horus asked.

"It's a datapad with the function to hack into the ADVENT network automatically at the quickest possible speed. The reason this operation is possible." Maria informed him.

"Really? Where did you get such a device?" He asked further.

"This was granted to us by a director of a Haven to me for goodwill, for protecting them with our forces." Dominique claimed.

"Really?" He said unimpressed.

"Their people were only grateful to hand us this device to further our efforts." He continued.

"Really? Because I've been hearing a nasty rumor from several Havens that an Officer from Sicario was threatening to remove protection from the Havens if some form of tribute was not given. The description they gave was that he was fat, rounded and looked like an overgrown swine! Have you heard otherwise?"

Dominique turned red with rage because he was referring to him.

"Dominique, is this true?" Rodrigo looked at him sternly.

"Of course it's a lie! There's no proof of his claim!"

"Oh! I actually have proof, the person you took it from was Director Andre of the Unity Haven when you asked him for other resources instead of their abundant food sources."

"Yes I got it from Andre, so what!"

"I've not seen your device but I can tell you that if you received it from Andre as you said you did then I can tell you that he was extorted by you, you can ask him yourself or you should know that I was the one who gave him the datapad to curb this extortion!"

"There's no proof that you handed it to him, it must be a trick!" he insisted.

"We've gotten to this point, ok everyone! If I can prove that the datapad was given by me would mean he had extorted the Havens, right?"

"Sure, fine whatever!" Dominique said. While the others nodded.

"I'll need the datapad."

Rodrigo went to a vault to retrieve it.

"Here." Rodrigo handed it to him

"Thanks!" Horus took the datapad and turned it on. Then the security screen appeared.

"Ha! That's the security screen that requires the passcode to unlock, you'll never be able to show it now, HAHA!" Dominique laughed like he was victorious, but so far his actions were rather shameless.

"If I can unlock this then it should prove that I'm the one who gave this to Andre then."

"That if is you can prove that you did? Extortion in my camp is a serious charge and would result in rank strip and flogging" Rodrigo told him.

Horus looked at Dominique. "Prepare to get your ass whipped!" He grinned. Maria could not control the excitement of what was going on could he really get rid of Dominique from commanding?

Horus tapped the keypad and unlocked the datapad instantly, and showed it to them.

Dominique turned pale in an instant. "This- This is impossible, a god damn trick! Cousin you have to believe me!"

"Believe you? Guards! Take him and strip his rank, then throw him into the brig. The punishment will be decided later."

The guards removed the ranting Dominique who kept saying Horus was lying.

"Thank you, if I had not known this would have caused serious implications on our relation with the Havens. They are after all the place we look to for support."

"Just helping a friend out that's all!" He winked at Maria.

Rodrigo indulged him onto the plan. They were assaulting the base to plan X4 charges at the Elerium generator to take out the whole place, but to get to the inner part they required the datapad so they could go through.

"If this becomes loud, what are your options?"

"We go through with it. It's too risky to pull back, that is why I will personally take charge of this operation!" Rodrigo declared.

"Once the generator room has been breached you may have the use of the device to hack the comms relay, but you'll only have five minutes before we demolish the building. We had just received word that a large contingent is heading to the facility to reinforce from overseas."

"Overseas? How big is it?"

"Around a company strength."

Horus had kept from them his identity as the designer of the datapad because he was told not to disclose it by Central and that the enemy would triangulate his position and send a kill team just for him. He didn't want to put the resistance in jeopardy either.

"When do we leave?"

"First thing tomorrow, to try to destroy the factory before the reinforcements come. You'll have to stay overnight, shall I provide you lodging?" Rodrigo offered.

"That's not necessary, Paolo offered me to stay at his place."

"Mhmhmhm! Paolo? Are you sure you want to sleep at his place? He and his wife go at it all night, and the walls are thin in these prefab houses." Maria just informed him some vital information.

"On second through I'll need a place for the night." He told Rodrigo.

"You can stay at my place! I'm sure Fernandez would like you a lot!"

"If your fine with me…."

"Of course I'm fine! Then it's settled then! Come, we'll head back to my place for chow!"

"I'll see you both in the morning, be prepared to move out at 9." Rodrigo told them, Maria saluted.

Rodrigo turned to the old woman. "Is there something you need?"

"It concerns the boy. And his affiliation with the blood serpent's legacy."

Rodrigo frowned when he heard such a thing.

"What is it?"

"He's the holder of the Blood Serpent's legacy."

"That's not possible! None of our ancestors successfully passed like our great ancestor and now you say this kid passed it?"

"There is more than meets the eye when it comes to that child. Either way, are you really going to let him go? He would be the greatest asset to the resistance."

Rodrigo thought about the prospects but decided against it.

"No. He will be needed by the Commander, now more than ever that the Spiritual users that fought alongside us in XCOM have vanished. Horus will be our gift to the Commander. And the hope for all of humanity!" Rodrigo reminiscence the days he fought along with those warriors with a hidden innate power that helped them bypass the technological discrepancy they faced early in the invasion. Those silent guardians of their world. One was the greatest of them all, Martin Hunor.

Horus followed her back to her place, if he only knew what would happen latter.


	12. Chapter 12 - The Feeling of Family

"Come on! We're nearly there!"

"Ok, just relax! Didn't you just have an operation? Should you be jumping around?"

"I've just received stitches that's all, that biofoam really did its thing. Thanks again!"

"Sure."

"You don't seem that talkative at all now."

"Let's just say I've not been able to rest and I've been fighting since three days straight in the jungles!"

"Then why didn't you say so! Come we're almost there!"

They reached a house similar to Paolo's but neater and larger, probably perks of being an officer in the resistance.

"Mama!" The little Fernandez ran over to her and slammed into her like a little freight train.

"Child! I'm so glad I can see you!" She hugged him.

Fernandez noticed Horus.

"Ah! The white haired hero!"

His mother giggled to herself.

"Yes, he saved your mama! Have you said your thanks?"

"Thank You, Hero brother!" He just couldn't get the hero thing out of his head even after he told him it was not the case.

"It's Horus, kid."

Maria brought Fernandez in front of her.

"Horus, this is Fernandez. The jewel in my life!" She introduced him to her son.

"I've already said my name but not where I came from. I'm a combatant of XCOM."

"XCOM?! Really, those alien fighters?!"

"Really!"

The child Fernandez zoomed around the house excited.

"Why don't you rest in one of our rooms for now, then I'll call you out for dinner!" Maria suggested.

"That sounds nice, but I'll need to inform Paolo I changed my mind."

"That's alright, I'll call and tell him later. Follow me!"

She took him to a room with a large bed.

"Rest now, I'll call you when I'm done!"

"Thanks, Maria." She waved him before going to the kitchen.

Horus took apart his harness and armor with his weapons strapped to it and dropped them in a neat pile near the dressing table and fell onto the bed.

The bed had a fresh and sweet smell to it and he instantly felling a deep sleep from the pleasant aroma.

Five hours passed.

"(muffle)…. Horus!" Horus heard a child's voice call him and he instantly got up.

"Dinner's ready, come over. Everyone's waiting for you!" Fernandez said brightly.

"Ok. Let me get my wash my face first."

The child nodded away his head and left to report to his mother.

Horus washed his face in the en suite bath and looked up in the mirror to see someone else in it. It was the first time he looked at a full mirror to see his complexion and he was surprised to see the tremendous change to his features. Perhaps you could say he was more well featured and handsome, his jaw line was sharper and this eyes had a bright and beautiful vibrant color it was almost as if his eyes were jeweled amethysts. But something else was different, they had the power to attract or bind a person. He was feeling the affect it had on himself, was Maria under the influence if it too?

He wiped his face with a towel and arranged his hair neatly as possible for supper, he was after all in someone else's house as a guest.

Horus arrived to find a wide spread on the table.

"Sorry you had to wait."

"Not at all, your just in time, I asked Fernandez to call you minutes before I was done." Maria smiled.

"Smells lovely!" He complimented her.

"It's Mama's after all!" Fernandez said.

"That's right! Who else but me could cook so well!" She cheered.

They sat at the table. And placed their hands together to say a short prayer. Little Fernandez thanked the lord for bringing his mother home safety….

"…and thank you for bringing me a Papa!" The kid's words shocked the living hell out of Horus and Maria.

"Fernandez I think that's a little too much!"

"But I want a Papa! All the other kids laugh at me for not having one!" He said in a sad tone almost about to cry.

"But you already have a father, kid." Horus replied.

Maria and Fernandez did not understand.

"He made you through his love for you mother, that can never be wrong. Perhaps he's far away or he had gone to heaven, but he still is your father and you have a father. So there is nothing to be upset or angered about when your friends tease you." His words had a powerful effect from his tone and mannerism that it had soothed the boy's broken heart and he smiled again. Maria who thought the dinner conversation would end for the worst did not expect Horus to save the situation.

"Besides, what does it matter if your Papa may not be around when you have the best Mama among the inhabitants! When she's home, she cooks for you and tucks you to bed at night. In the day, she fights and leaders the men fighting the alien menace by herself, does that not make her great?"

"Mmm! You're right! I do have the best Mama!" Fernandez announced loudly.

Maria blushed heavily from their comments.

"Then a toast, to the best Mama!" He raised his glass.

"To the best Mama!" Fernandez did the same.

"To the best Mama!" Maria declared.

They chimed their glasses of juice. Horus wasn't picky about the foods, as a matter a fact they tasted great, there was no regret in staying with Maria.

"Horus was your Mama ever this good at cooking?" The boy meant no ill intentions when asking.

His moment stopped when the boy mentioned his mother. Maria noticed what was wrong and wanted to correct the boy but Horus looked at her to tell her it was alright.

"She was, one of the best cooks in the region. Nothing tasted like hers. It's been so long since I had a chance to taste it again."

"I'm sure you'll get too!"

"That might not happen, you see. My parents disappeared one day."

The boy looked shock at Horus mentioning his parents not around, he could not comprehend a life without his Mama.

"But they did tell me something before they left, a mission if you will."

He took out his medallion and gave it to Fernandez to look at.

"She said that as long as I held this medallion they would always be with me in spirit, and one day we might meet again if the conditions are right."

"That's so cool!"

"It is, isn't it! A quest to find my parents!"

"You're really like a hero, Horus!"

"Didn't say I wasn't!" He smiled at him.

"You're my hero, Horus!" The child declared which surprised him.

"I don't really see myself as a hero, but if I were to become one it would only be for you, Fernandez."

"Wow! My very own hero!"

"Ok, then I'll be your exclusive hero then, huh?"

Maria watched as the two boys got along fine, she shed a tear silently because she had not seen her son become so joyful. She gazed at Horus and though he would be a wonderful father figure for her son, if not for his need to depart.

The conception of her child was through a rough adventure she had with a young sweetheart who she ran away with to another Haven and had her child, the Haven got attacked by ADVENT and her husband took up arms and never returned. She had problems with others in the community for her single status and a fatherless child living in the communities. And yet Horus had shed new light on their existence, a different perspective to Fernandez's problems at the local school for the other children teasing him.

If only he could stay….

* * *

He played around with Fernandez at hide and seek with Maria as well. They both hid in the closet and Horus pretended to be a big bad wolf looking for them, he opened the closet and grabbed them both and flung them on the bed. Maria sent away her son by sacrificing herself, and Horus diabolically cackle the would do horrible and perverted things to his mother and it awakened the boy's heroism, he took the pillow to fight off the evil wolf who perished to his soft and cushiony blade.

They transitioned to other games like guessing games which Horus was horrible at much to their glee. Fernandez was so excited that he fell asleep while doing some guesses.

"I guess it's time for this one to go to bed!"

"Mmm. Show me his room, I'll carry him." He picked up Fernandez softly and supported his head while following Maria to the kid's room. He placed him gently into the bed as the child still murmured in his sleep about the great time he was having. His mother couldn't help snicker a few.

"It's time for us to turn in as well!" Maria said.

"Agreed."

Horus walked to the room Maria had given to him for the night but for some reason she followed him.

"Is your room nearby?"

"Yes it is!" She smiled.

Horus reached his room and for some reason Maria did too and she took some clothes out of the wardrobe and changed on the spot, as if he wasn't there.

That's when Horus realized. This was her room!

"I'm going to sleep outside."

"I'm not going to let a guest sleep outside!" She blocked his way.

"But this is your room!"

"If your uncomfortable I'll sleep outside then."

"No. Please don't, this is your room. Don't make me send its owner out to the sofa."

"Good, then we'll sleep together." She said it like a fact.

He didn't want to argue. He climbed into the bed and she did too after turning off the light. He closed his eye trying to fall asleep.

"Hey. Wanna do it?" She asked, he could believe what he heard from her. She had just given him an advance.

"Are you serious?"

"Mmmm….. And here I am in bed with an attractive and muscular man! I'm also sexually frustrated."

"Maria, I have someone that I like back in XCOM." He told her bluntly. Hoping it would stop her.

But she wrapped her arms around him instead. "Does she know you do?"

"She will as soon as I get back." She kissed his neck upwards until she reached his lips.

"Also… I'm a virgin." He added.

"Oh! Then you should at least know how it's done first before giving it to her. You wouldn't want to spoil your first intimate moment with her would you?" She pushed on and bit his ear loop.

"Then allow me to give you some directions on your way to pleasing a woman, dear." She said.

"….." She waited for his response.

"What should I do?" She pumped her fist to celebrate a victory in her mind.

"You can start by caressing me and kissing me." Horus wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him, she gave a playful squeak from his rough movements and then he kissed her on the lips and played with her tongue. Maria was surprised by his sudden assault on her mouth, and resisted by fighting back with her own to entwine with his.

When Horus released his tongue kiss she gasped heavily for air. "You sure you haven't done this before?"

"Nope." He answered truthfully.

"I'm sure she'll be pleased with your mouth then." She licked her lips.

"Next is the foreplay, to build up the excitement to make the experience more enjoyable, pleasurable and memorable." She chuckled as she reached for his hands around her waist and placed them on her chest and made the rubbing motion around her bosom. She moaned when he used his own strength to massage her, and thought about taking it up a notch. So he kissed her neck the way she did to him, now she was moaning was twice as loud. "Do you want to wake up Fernandez?" He cautioned her to which she giggled.

"Wouldn't it be thrilling to get caught?" She seductively cooed. This woman, he thought.

It didn't stop him from his pleasuring of Maria and he moved down to kiss her lowered body from her neck down to her chest then along her navel. She was thoroughly enjoying his foreplay with her. She pushed him back against his back to pulled his pants down.

"Now it's my turn. And my! Look how big you are!" She held his shaft and stroked it gently at first but sped up the rhythm until she did it vigorously.

Horus enjoyed the pleasure of being stroked by her thin smooth hands. She took it up the next level by placing it between her cleavage and continued to rub with her soft smooth surface of her mammary glands. She kissed the tip of his man shaft that could not be covered up, which added to the pleasure that was given, Horus could not endure after a ten-minute assault on him. "Urgh! Maria!" He released in her mouth. Maria took a while to swallow the fluids and licked his shaft clean. "Remember to warn before releasing."

"Now for the fun part!" She took off her clothes revealing her tanned and smooth skin under the pale moonlight. "You're very beautiful tonight." She smiled at his honest compliment.

She positioned herself over him and lowered her waist and plunged her crotch into his shaft. She huffed heavily from the unfamiliar object in her. "You alright?"

"I'm fine, it's just that I'm not used to it after so long, my husband-." She wanted to cry from recalling her sweetheart.

"Say no more. I'll take it from here." He said responsibly. He turned her around to a missionary and thrusted his hips at her. She moaned sharply as her insides were being pulled along with his shaft.

"Ahhh! Ahhh!...Even though I'm supposed… to be the one teaching you…..Ahhh! Ahhh! Hyiii!" Horus sucked on her nipple while playing with the other. She tried to suppress her moaning as the thought occurred that her son would really wake up and find her out. But it made her more aroused and she overloaded with pleasure, her eyes rolled from the sensation rushing to her head.

Maria panted after being made a fool by Horus who she had offered to school in pleasuring a woman, so far he had only over achieved. But there was only so much a woman with her pride could take so she pushed him against the bed again and straddled him.

"Now it's time for payback." She sweetly whispered and began thrusting her hips while she kissed him again to take away his breath. She was determined to get even with him for making her come first.

Horus didn't want to lose to her and counterattacked as he smooched her navel from her cowgirl. She was inclined to hold his head to support herself or she feared falling backwards turning into a face-off.

Later they were both sitting with Maria on top of Horus but facing him, her legs and arms wrapping around him in a yoga-style. She began to notice his eyes glisten in the moonlight. "I can't help but gasp at those amethyst like eyes, it feels like my soul is being drawn into it. Look at me more, Horus!" She became captivated by his dazzling irises.

There little contest for who lasts longer ended with a draw. "Ahhh! Horus, arghh…..aaaaahh!"

"Urgh!..."

Horus was panting as heavily as Maria was, in the end she refused to be beaten by a beginner and just made it to the borderline.

"You did excellent for your first but I must inform you solemnly, once might not be enough for most girls." Horus pressed her against the wall, she squealed in delight. "Does that include you?" he lifted her legs and pushed his rod up into her crotch again and reciprocated while she hung on to him for support, her fingers pierced into the skin on his back as the pleasure rushed to her head from an explosive orgasm after much pounding from using her own body weight.

"Mama?" A call from the other side of her room's door caused her heart to thump wildly, the door knob turned but was unable to move the door. She sighed in relief as she had remembered to lock the door. She walked to the door on the other side.

"Yes, child? Um….Mama is having a bad time in the restroom. Hyi!..." she yelped in surprise.

"Mama?"

"It's nothing Fernandez, just the cold breeze blowing in that's all."

"Mama, where is Horus? I couldn't find him anywhere when I woke up."

"H-Horus went out because he was called by Uncle Rodrigo…Ahh!"

"Mama? Are you not well?"

"I'm fine, child. It's just…. I was in the bathroom when you called… and I don't have any pants on…. Can you sleep on your own? Do you need me to tuck you in again?"

"Mm! I'll be alright Mama! Goodnight!"

"….Good…night!"

Maria sighed in relieve that her son had finally left. While that was happening Horus had been playing with her the entire time, taking advantage of her helplessness while she answered her son.

"You! You're just pure lust!" She pounded his chest with her hands which he grabbed hold of and kissed her lips again. "Didn't you say it would be thrilling to be almost caught?" She warmly welcomed his mouth as she stopped her struggling.

After the after hours game they played for two hours they lay in the bed facing each other. She played with his soft hair and developed a fondness for his eyes she kept gazing into. "Thank you, Maria."

"Hmm?"

"You've given me a chance to feel what it was like to have a family." Her heart thumped.

"No, thank you Horus." She started to tear. Horus pulled her into his chest in an embrace.

"Just for tonight… hold me like you would her."

"Maria….. alright."

I just how Fernandez doesn't catch us in the morning, he thought.

* * *

The next morning, he was up the moment the cock crowed. Because there was one somewhere in the camp, doing its duty to announce the morning to avoid becoming someone's chicken meal.

He put on his clothes after having a shower and donned his combat harness. "Here, let me help you." Maria clipped his harness from the back for him, she had yet to dress and was covered with the blanket.

"Thanks, you'd better get dressed before that sunshine of yours wakes up."

"Mmm. Right!"

Horus was leaving the room when Maria asked. "Horus!"

"If…. That girl had not existed would you come back here?"

"This would be the first place I'd stop." He said before leaving the room. A smile escaped her lips.

Maria bathed to wash the sweat from their night activity and donned her combat fatigues, she could smell a sweet aroma of food coming from the dining.

When she came out she saw Horus at the kitchen frying some sausages. Her son was already seated at the table waiting for breakfast.

"Morning, dear."

"Morning, Mama! Horus is cooking breakfast for us, I can't wait!"

"Me neither." She sat at the table. Just as Horus dropped the sausages evenly amongst the three plates, there were already bacon and eggs on the plates.

"Continental breakfast!" Horus called it.

"It's nice!" Fernandez chewed happily on the sausage.

"The ingredients were good to begin with."

"That's just being modest!" Maria laughed.

Horus took a drink from the juice in his glass as they enjoyed a breakfast with more than two persons usually.

"Maria."

"Yes, dear?"

"I want to ask you not to go for today's mission." Maria dropped her utensils.

"Can you follow me for a moment? Child, I'm going to excuse ourselves for a while, ok?"

"Um!" He nodded while he spooned another mouthful.

Horus and Maria were now alone in the backyard garden.

"Why?" She asked.

"I can't help shake the feeling that something dangerous will appear today at the factory."

"Everything is dangerous out here, Horus!"

"Not this time, I've been around the world and you've seen me fight. But I'm telling you something that even scares me might be there."

"Do you want me to just stay home as I deploy my men out in the field without a care or thought for my own safety?"

"No. I-."

"I will not leave them and I certainly not leave you alone as you go there to do a probabl-!"

"I don't want Fernandez to become like ME!" He shouted as he gripped her shoulders.

He panted as he lowered his head.

"When my parents disappeared on me that was the roughest time of my life, I forgot to cry, to laugh, and to shout. Every night was filled with the thought of my lonely existence. No one was there to tell me off or teach me to do things any longer. It caused my heart to harden, and it only took twenty years to soften. Please don't do the same to your boy!" He pleaded.

Maria embraced him as she cuddled his head she replied to him. "I've always thought of this whenever I venture out, but another thought also occurs. My men too have families, should I let their loved ones suffer in place of me?"

He could not refute her any longer, her duty was to her men's wellbeing after all.

"I guess I can't change your mind then." She smiled wryly.

"When have I been so gullible to fall for such convincing words!"

"Isn't Fernandez the product of that?"

"Urgh!" Maria fell on her feet.

"Let's get back to the dining, the boy might be wondering what's going on here."

They returned to the dining to finish their breakfast, Fernandez did not notice a thing.

When they were at the front door, Fernandez heard the news of his departure.

"No! NO! Why must you leave? Weren't you going to stay with us forever?" Horus patted Fernandez head.

"Silly boy, just like your Mama I have my unit that's depending on me!"

"Why can't you be in Mama's group then?" He asked innocently.

"There are monsters out there, Fernandez. Viler and cruel than the one's your Mama faces. I need to face them or there will be more children without mothers or fathers. And of course, to keep their grasp off your home and your Mama."

"I see…"

"Fernandez."

"Yes?"

"I'm going to give you a quest!" He recognized what he said and what he was about to say, when he mentioned his family before.

Horus took out an empty cartridge case fashioned into a necklace and placed it in the young boy's small hands.

"I'm going on a voyage, this voyage has no time no limit. This voyage holds the fate of everything I hold dear to me so I must leave you behind. You and your mother are part of everything I hold dear. Hold this medallion and treasure it with your life. And one day I may reunite with you." He repeated the lines his mother once said to him.

"Ok. I'll hold this medallion until we meet again!"

"Good boy, one day I'll show you a world that once existed. Until then, I'll be off."

Horus stood up from his knee and walked with Maria to the rendezvous point. He did not turn back to look.

"Thank You for all you've done for Fernandez, Horus!" She told him.

"Don't mention it."

* * *

They reached the rendezvous point where trucks had been waiting to send troops to the specified location near the ADVENT weapons factory.

"Horus, Maria. I trust that you had rested well enough?" Rodrigo greeted.

"She and Fernandez have been every welcoming."

"Morning, Commandante!"

"Morning." Her commander responded.

"Are these all the troops you'll be bringing?"

"Fifty handpicked men. I trust this would be well enough."

"I hope so too, ADVENT always has a way of surprising us with unsuspecting variations."

Rodrigo nodded his head in agreement.

"Then hop on board. We move out immediately!"

"Sir!" Maria saluted and walked after Horus to the 5-ton truck waiting with her squad members.

They boarded and sat next to her squadmates, while the support crew loaded the explosive provisions.

Paolo looked glum for some reason. "You did tell Paolo I was staying over at your place, right?"

"Yup!"

"What did you say to turn him in like this?"

"He was a bit upset you were staying with me so I threatened to tell his wife he saw me naked." She said so casually. Horus couldn't help but feel sorry for Paolo.

The wounded buddy of theirs Tris had returned to the fight due to quick healing and some morphine. It reminded him about Maria's injury.

"How's your injury?" Horus asked Maria.

"It seemed fine last night." She rubbed it unconsciously.

"Last night?" Paolo caught her words.

Both of them were thinking, shit!

"You two were-…!" His mouth gaped, while the others made cat noises.

"This was just a one-time thing!" Maria declared, but it admitted to them they did. Horus placed his hand to support his head.

The entire trip the girls forced her to reveal the nature of their night activity. They squealed at her description, as Maria held her hands to her cheeks to hold back the blushing.

Horus had given up on the group and Maria, he went to checking his weapons and unique ammunition to which seven bolts remained for the bolt caster. His axes were the most important to him, they were the weapons he'd use the most while the bolt caster was used to do the killing blow or hit heavy infantry. The shadowkeeper pistol was used to regain the element of surprise or avoid sudden attacks.

The Elerium cores in them really were long lasting, were they like some sort of crystallized nuclear power? None of the earth batteries could last this long. Could he somehow utilize the Elerium cores to power his EXO suit, giving it increased output? He could then carry several cores as replaceable batteries during combat.

But first he needed to return to the AVENGER, he needed to return to Alicia and he also needed to kick the shit out of William for his betrayal. Maria watched from afar his serious focus attitude and thought back to their one night together. Their relationship had to come to a close she had trouble accepting it for the entire night after the deed but came to understand that both of them had priorities and commitments that could not keep them together.

And so came a close to they're one-night stand under the moonlight.


	13. Chapter 13 - Knight Slaying

They stopped ten miles from the factory to avoid detection by any sensors on their vehicle movement. The weather wasn't to their favor as it became wet and muggy, the clouds covered the ceiling on the sky implying that rain was imminent. Horus assisted in carrying the crates of explosives through the swamp-ish mud. His little power up in physical strength from the blood trial really shined now when the tasks were straining on the men's fatigues. Horus requested to go with the recce team when they neared the compound, he had a bad feeling in his gut and wanted to provide the most up-to-date knowledge on the enemies he thought they might encounter. He was asking around and found out why the Sicario resistance fighters are so afraid of the Vipers. It resembled their serpent deity not unlike the blood serpent, fighting against their god-like deities' descendants didn't bode well in omens.

Horus obviously knew it was childish to believe such a thing, but if he were a religious man of the same faith, he would probably do the same thing or find ways to avoid them entirely.

Maria and her group tagged along due to her position as sub-commander, she couldn't afford to let Rodrigo's plan fall apart or they and the Havens would face serious consequence from the factories continued operation. They were now two hundred metres from the base and the landing pad for the dropships was visible. There were supply crates everywhere as well as energy cell drums.

"Hermana! They seem to be loading up a shipment presently, they're planning an assault on one of the Havens!" The scout reported also nervous of the prospect of the dropships leaving.

"Report back to Rodrigo and relay the message, then await response." Maria told the scout.

The scout vanished into the foliage with his other members. Maria and Horus continued to observe changes in the factory compound.

"There! Beside the Munition train yard, I see a comms array. That's what you've been looking for!" Maria pointed out the comms relay station to Horus as she handed him the binoculars.

"That's a bit far from the generator room. And the guards there are just as many, it would be like breaking into the factory a second time."

"What now?" Paolo asked.

"I'll stick with the plan, the factory comes first, calling my friends is secondary."

Maria and Paolo were somehow joyous to hear him say that.

"T-Then, do you think we can reach the factory and get pass the blast shield door of the generator?"

"Even if the datapad fails I'll still manage to get you pass security, trust me."

"Alright." Maria trusted his ability to get them through.

An hour later as the dusk began to set in, the scout returned to Maria.

"Commandante's orders, we attack at full force, no stealth and guile. Rocket teams have position themselves around the dropships to prevent take off. A sniper team has positioned to prevent long range comms from being sent. Assault begins in two minutes!" Maria nodded to the scout and they went too their positions.

Maria stuck out two fingers indication the time to Horus and her team.

"So this is it, huh?" Maria said.

"There's no going back, but if we succeed there won't be harassments like now on the populous for a time." Horus told her firmly.

"Movement at the newly landed dropship…is- is that a person?" Tris who had been on the lookout reported.

Horus's body frozen but he quickly picked up the binoculars to confirm. There at the landing platform, a small platoon of ADVENT soldiers freshly deployed and the one standing in front, a man in advance ADVENT protective armor. Horus dropped his binoculars as his eyes widen in horror of the new threat that had arrived at their doorstep.

"Call off the assault….." Horus murmured.

"What? We can't-."

"Call of the assault!" Horus shouted at Paolo. "Tell Rodrigo to abort now! Before it's too late!"

Paolo saw the fear in Horus's eyes and recalled the time he saved them from the ADVENT patrol, if even he was afraid then the enemy that had just arrived was truly horrifying. Paolo nodded and dashed off into the darkness.

"What? That's just a traitor, how bad could it be?" Tris who saw him first asked.

"That's not just any traitor, that's a Prism Knight!" Horus informed gravely. The term Prism Knight had not reached this part of the world so they were entirely oblivious to the true devastating power of the Prism Knights.

"Horus, why is it so dangerous?" Maria asked calmly as she saw the frantic eyes of Horus dart around in anxiousness.

"I came across one before, me and my Fire Team. Full gear, high powered rounds, large caliber AP ammunition, explosives. I came out the only one alive that day, and even then that had been luck. I rigged his MEC troopers to fire upon him, even a full barrage of high-caliber mag slug could only make his shield flicker! And to make matters worst, they fight in close combat with an energized blade of some kind!"

Maria read his expression as she listened to his explanation.

"We'll engage him."

"Maria!" Horus shouted her name in disbelief.

"If not he will go to the Havens, it's either we face him here or they suffer!" She told him the rational point of view.

Horus was of course nervous as hell, he knew he had a bad feeling but none such as this scenario right now. Scenes of that day played out in his mind unconsciously, restricting his movement. Then a warm hand clasped his.

"Whatever you may have gotten through, I'm glad you survived that day. If not, I wouldn't have met you." Maria's words calmed the raging torrents of his mind.

"Promise me, you'll avoid him at all costs! At best, he won't attack unless he feels truly threatened. If the conditions are right he will kill who ever tries to take his head, he'll leave the other troops to handle the work for him. If you can suppress them, his movement will automatically stop." He gave Maria the most important information regarding the Prism Knight.

Maria nodded. Horus waited for Paolo to return but it didn't matter anyway, the rocket team attacked the dropships right on schedule, turning into a heap of wrecks. Horus ran down to the rocket troops.

"Leave one dropship intact in the landing pad, give the enemy an avenue to escape or they'll be like cornered rats!"

The rocket troops' leader nodded as he understood and led his men to fire upon the ADVENT troops in an indirect fire role.

Maria's team chased after him as he joined the assault on the main checkpoint, Paolo at some point rejoined them. The ADVENT guards had already been dispatched by the first assault wave that were amongst the ammunition crates taking cover and firing back at the ADVENT perimeter patrols.

When Maria and her team reached, Horus was already intruding the network with the device in the access point in the checkpoint and he drew the map layout of the facility and sent a copy to Rodrigo before heading into the factories inner perimeter. He could see in a distance the Prism Knight had yet to engage anyone and was just watching the attack with disdain and careful analysis. The contingent with him stood by guarding him but not engaging.

"There, we need to head through the second loading-unloading point, get pass the corridor to control and surveillance room to release the blast doors on the generator room." Horus told them the plan from his datapad's mapping function.

"Then let's get to it! Tris, take point!"

"Aye, ma'am!" The girl took up her shotgun and went in front.

Several ADVENT troops were coming around the corner were unlucky to meet with her shotgun blast. The Command and Surveillance room lay up ahead, Paolo threw a flashbang during a room entry and the occupants were cleared out in a few seconds.

"Paolo, Anton! Get on the surveillance cameras and mark the targets for the Commandante! Watch that Prism Knight's movement as well!" The two of them promptly went to the chairs to check the video feeds. Tris stood guard by the entrance.

Horus plugged into the central computer and began hacking to break the locks on blast door of the Elerium generator designed to withstand a nuclear attack and prevent a meltdown from leaking.

"It's done! I'm going to the comms array, take care of this place!" Horus left the datapad in Paolo's hands as he went out of the room. Paolo and the rest were slightly surprised that he relinquished the datapad that would help him break into the comms.

"Paolo, watch over the place. I'm going with him!" Maria said before she went off.

Horus drew his shadowkeeper and axe as he went around the corners.

"Hey! Wait up!" Maria chased after him.

"Maria?!"

"You shouldn't go alone to the comms array, I'll watch your back!" He knew nothing could change her mind so he didn't stop her.

Returning to the outside they had met with Rodrigo who had moved the command to the inner compound of the factory.

Rodrigo was busy sending orders around the dispatches to different parts of the factory to shut down all the garrison forces. He saw them coming over.

"Maria, Horus!"

"Rodrigo, that traitor with ADVENT, please do not engage him directly. That's a Prism Knight, we simply don't have the firepower to take him on in a direct confrontation!"

"Duly noted! But I cannot leave my men to not keep him from flanking our forces."

"There's a way of keeping him back! Fight only his guards, do not engage him directly and he won't be provoked!"

"I'll tell the forward leaders! Hurry and get to the comms, we're on a tight schedule here!" Rodrigo told him.

"Right!" And Horus left.

"Maria!" Rodrigo called out.

"Commandante?"

"Watch the boy!"

"Si, Commandante!"

Horus reached the comms relay and dispatched the ADVENT soldiers positioned to guard the station with great haste with his axe and pistol. In under a minute all eleven ADVENT soldiers were killed as they had been isolated from calling for help through the comms relay by the snipers in an undisclosed location, it was harder to make them out in the night and the raindrops that palpitated the grounds to mask the sound.

Horus entered the Comms relay station and pulled the cover from the console and plugged his own datapad into the system. He worked with feverish speed to align the dish and prepare the message to be sent on the old broadcasting channel as 'Big Sky' had done but in a continuous unhindered stream. Maria watched astounded at his skill without the datapad, realizing that he was probably the one who made the datapad they received in the first place, why he had not revealed it was clear. For someone like him snooping around ADVENT would mark him as a high priority target and they would hunt anyone who knew leads to his location including them.

The message was sent and Horus sat down placing the datapad at his side. "It's done, all I need to do now is wait and they should be here at dawn."

"Can they reach here in time?"

"The AVENGER can travel around the world in a day. Anything is possible."

Maria sat beside Horus as they waited for his message to be sent completely.

She placed her hand on his, grabbing hold of it and Horus in turn held it firmly.

"I'm gonna miss you, write a postcard will you?"

"I'll come back to visit, when I do. I hope I can introduce you to the person I love and show her what a wonderful family you've been while I was here."

"Horus. Do me a favor."

"Yes?"

"Let me look at you until it's time."

Horus turned to look at her as she gazed into his eyes. For a long ten minutes until the broadcasting was complete, Maria looked into the eyes that were once hers for a night one last time.

The ping sound of the message being sent had arrived.

"Times up. We need to link up with Rodrigo to assist him in destroying this place."

"Alright."

They left the comms relay after she threw her grenades at the console to prevent others using it to call for help.

Maria looked at him from behind and whispered. "Farewell… love.."

* * *

A comms officer ran to the Commander's office where Central and the Fire Team commanders were having a briefing.

"Sir, urgent message from Argentina! Following the same frequency as the old XCOM. It's just-…."

"Go on." The Commander said.

"The comms is from an ADVENT array broadcast."

"What does this mean? Their trying to lure us with our frequency?" One of the Fire Team Leaders questioned.

"What was the broadcast about?" The Commander asked for more valid points.

"The message contains coordinates to some place in the jungle and another one to the location Big Sky crashed. Also it has a word at the end, 'Cheshire'."

Alicia's heart pounded. She recalled that day in the jungle Horus was the one responsible for marking its location, who else would know the location of exactly where the Skyranger crashed but him.

"Horus… It's Horus! Sir! Permission to retrieve, Horus!"

The name she mentioned brought shock to the officers present, especially to William who had cold sweat down his back.

"I think that Officer Hunor is in denial. There's no way Horus could be alive." William said calmly, but stopped as Alicia glared at him, it caused his heart to break as she looked at him with hate.

"Assuming it's not a coincidence that the call sign of the assumed late Horus had just been mentioned in the message and that the origin of Horus's last mission four days ago was there. Then perhaps there is a small chance he's there." Yoshikawa spoke up for Alicia.

"Then if so, he's in deep trouble! He used a ADVENT array to call us, he's risking a lot!" The Fire Team Leader who corrected Horus during his report of Bismarck's death said.

"Lieutenant Hunor." The Commander called her.

"Sir!" She stood awaiting his orders.

"Assemble Menace 1-5 for priority extraction immediately. Firebrand will be informed. John. Triangulate the signal and send her the coordinates." Bradford nodded.

"Yes, sir! Thank You, sir!" Alicia ran out of the office to her quarters.

This small glimpse of hope that he was alive, she would not let it pass.

"Heather, gather the team and report to the hangar in full gear ASAP!" She called to her sergeant through the wireless comms exclusive to the base.

-Eh? O-Ok!- She responded instantly.

-What's going on, Alicia?-

"Horus is alive!" She said joyfully.

-…..I'll assemble the rest!- Heather gave her a quick response.

Alicia was at her room and quickly dressed for the rescue op, this would be her third time saving him. She chuckled at the thought, but nothing made her wish more than to find him alive when they reached. Pulling her rifle, she exited the room but was blocked by William.

"Alicia…"

"Get out of the way, William!"

"Alicia, I know it's hard for you to accept that he's dead but-!"

Alicia used the butt of her rifle to strike his gut and he fell to his knees as she walked pass him.

"Don't get in the way of me rescuing my subordinate! And after I come back, I'd like to discuss what really happened that day!" She told him sharply as she glared at him before running off in the corridor.

"Alicia! You will only regret it!" He shouted with all his might, unable to chase after her.

"Damn you, Horus! Why couldn't you just stay dead?!" He slammed his fist against the alloy wall.

You'd be better off not returning here at all! Alicia is mine!

* * *

Horus and Maria came to a quiet compound, an equal number of dead ADVENT and resistance soldiers.

"Where is everyone?" Maria felt the situation change.

"Where's the Prism Knight?!" Horus couldn't find the Prism Knight anywhere on the compound meaning he finally took action.

The came to the blast door they expected to be wide open, but it wasn't and that only meant one thing.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"Horus, we need to ensure the command and surveillance stays in our grasp or else they can't plant the explosives and leave!"

"Let's go, now!"

They ran through the loading docks into the factory where they heard the firefight get serious, ADVENT and Sicario forces were scattered about fighting for ground.

Running to the command and surveillance room they were greeted by a blood trail coming out of the room.

Maria covered her mouth to hold back herself from screaming out Tris's name. As she lay at the door with her eyes open in disbelief at her death.

The console room was filled with ADVENT and some of her team's bodies, Paolo and some were missing.

Horus began and intrusion again into the ply the blast doors open again, as someone had overwritten his command to open it.

Maria was at the surveillance screens browsing through to locate Rodrigo and Paolo.

"Horus! That person has Paolo!"

Horus looked up at the screen to see Paolo captured by ADVENT troops and brought to the roof.

"Where's Rodrigo?"

"He's in the generator room, he and his men are waiting for the blast door to open again or they'll be trapped!"

Horus reassumed control over the blast door and sent the command to open the blast door through triggering its emergency protocol.

"It's done! He should be able to get out now. Come! We go for Paolo!" Horus ran off to get to the roof of the building. Maria walked alongside him with conflictions in her mind.

"Didn't you say not to provoke him?!" Horus wore a hardened expression.

"That line has been crossed when he killed the rest! Now he will die!"

Maria could see the determination in his eyes, compared to the confusion when he first spotted the Knight. Horus handed her his Bolt Caster and the bolts. Instructing her on the firing, loading and reloading as they ran to the top.

"I'll engage him in melee. You will be the one that kills him with the bolt caster, its power is great but I don't know if it'll break his personal shield! We'll try either way or we die together."

Die together, huh? That doesn't sound bad either, perhaps Rodrigo might raise my Fernandez in my place if that ever happens.

"Together it is then!" She smiled at him.

At the top of the roof, the ADVENT soldiers dragged the new prisoner of war, Paolo on his knees to face their superior.

The roof was filled with puddles of blood from the mixture of heavy rain and the beating Paolo received.

"Puuahhh!" He was stomped on by the Prism Knight.

"I won't ask again, rebel! Who gave you this device?" He waved the datapad Horus left for him.

"It was your mother, she had a night visit and forgot it at my place!" He grinned a bloody smile.

The Prism Knight punched him in the gut sending him flying. "Kill him." He told his two guards casually.

As the ADVENT troopers charged their weapons, Paolo had one last laugh.

"Ahhahaha!….. retribution will come to you, little fucker!... The white haired death god will come for you!...Hahahahaha! …Mia! I'm coming home!"

Horus…. Kill this fucker for me!... Paolo said to himself as he closed his eyes to accept his death.

The Prism Knight couldn't be bothered to hear his rantings and turned away. But the sound that came next was not what he had expected.

Out from the roof entrance dashed Horus, he flung his axe at one of the guards. The guard that received the axe howled its last dying scream. He fired the shadowcaster at the others head, injuring but also blinding him temporarily. Horus used his axe to bring down the last.

"H-Horus?"

"I've come to rescue you, the thought of Mia hearing your demise would be painful." Horus said as he lifted him up after cutting the binds on his cuffed hands.

"I will not permit you to leave with my prisoner." Came a cold voice from the previously idle Prism Knight.

"I'm not, I'm here to kill you." Horus said as he placed Paolo against the door of the rood entrance which was sheltered. Maria came up as well and briefly checked Paolo before turning her attention to the Prism Knight.

The Knight laughed as if he heard a funny joke. "You? Kill me?"

"Yes. In fact, if it weren't for your energy shield you and all the other Prism Knights would have perished for their first proper fight!"

The Knight was surprised the individual in front of him knew their existence and what they possessed.

"And you still dare to point your blade at me?" He dared.

"To be honest, I'm starting to think that this arrogance is a prerequisite amongst you knights!" Horus mocked him while he grinned.

"You're courting death, jungle filth!" He shouted angrily.

"No. You are! (Sigh) Being unable to kill Rune Barbatos left me extremely full of angst and I intend to take your life as consolation!" The knight was shocked to hear the name of his colleague.

"So you're that-… Hmph! Rune was a slouch anyway! He deserved to be humiliated by the likes of you, but don't compare me with him!"

"Then prove it, show me that this Prism Knight standing before me isn't a slouch and won't run from a fight like he did!" Horus taunted as he took a ready stance.

"You? Ha! I'll take more than you and that lovely thing there to stop me!" The Prism Knight licked his lips sadistically as he leered at Maria.

Horus wasn't going to let him have the first move and attacked with his axe in a clockwise spin. The strike was so quick that if the shield wasn't there to take the hit he would have already been dead.

"Vile schemer! Using underhanded methods to get you way!" He cursed.

"That should be my line, don't cower behind that shield you fucking coward!" Horus continued his assault on the Prism Knight. Maria aimed her Bolt caster waiting for his signal.

Just as the Knight was about to swing his energized blade, Horus veered back and shouted. "Now!"

The bolt flew straight at its intended target and slammed heavily against his shield sending his a few steps back. The knight got a taste of the power of the bolt caster and recognized it as the most dangerous weapon to him present.

He tried to get to Maria but Horus intervened and slammed his shield a second time with two axes. The knight swung his sword and Horus dodged whilst swinging his axe through the window of the knight's swing that wasn't protected by the shield. He managed to grazed his hand, and that was when the knight realized the real danger that he was in. He swung aggressively at Horus but Horus parried the blade with an uppercut swing from his axe sending his sword hand swinging backwards from the force of Horus's strike. The axes could successfully parry the energized blade without breaking.

The knight began to feel the dire straits he was in and looked around for avenues to escape.

"Don't run like Rune." Horus taunted him when he saw what he intended to do.

"DON'T compare me to Rune!" Horus managed to convince him to continue fighting. Another bolt slammed into his shield, sending him backwards crashing from not having good footing.

Again, Horus was already upon him and attacked him with brutal strength with a smile on his face. Causing the knight to falter, if he could run would they not chase him?

The Knight was prevented from reaching Maria to stop her from depleting his shield and from running by the seemingly inexhaustible Horus.

"Fight me fair! One-on-one!" The knight shouted seeing his odds dwindle.

"Don't lecture me on fair, you pompous fuck!" Horus roared as he plunged his axe against his now rippling shield. The combined assault of the Bolt caster and Horus's heavy axe blows caused the knight to feel for the first time the prospect of dying.

"Stop! Stop! If you kill me here, the rest will come for you!" He pleaded shamelessly.

"As if I care!" Horus yelled over his roaring axe blade and the thunder that resounded from the worsening weather.

"Tch!" The knight was running out of options as he stared at Maria and Paolo he thought of an idea that would allow him to get out of this mess.

Maria was down to two bolts left. As she reloaded the knight came for her and Horus stood in his way again. But this time he went for the injured Paolo!

"Paolo!"

Horus dashed as quickly as he could to stop him but the knight instead doubled back towards Maria instead now that he left her open.

"Maria! Run!"

Maria fell to her back as the knight raised his sword to slay her. The fear clouded her eyes and paralyzed her. Horus ran to stop the knight but no matter how he calculated his speed was not enough to stop him from cutting down Maria.

Then time slowed.

It's happening again, another person I couldn't save! Why is this happening to me?! Why don't I have enough strength to protect them?

It's not like that time! Now I have the power of the blood serpent! I should have the strength so why can't I stop him?!

He could see Maria resigning herself to her fate as she closed her eyes.

No. No! No! No! No! No! Why must she die now? Fernandez is waiting for her at home! Fernandez will lose his mother…. he'll become like me.

The through of the innocent Fernandez having to lose his mother and living as he had, he couldn't stand it.

…

 **I will never let it happen!**

….

Every fiber in his forced a hidden latent power to emerge from him as he forced it out from his soul. The boiling in his blood occurred like the time he consumed the blood of the serpent, it caused him agony but who cares. If he needed to become a monster, then so be it! He would not let a second Horus walk this earth.

The energized blade stopped abruptly as it failed to reach its destination. The bladed end did not touch anything while it failed to shrew Maria, but it was stopped just inches away from her face. Maria opened her eyes to see the unbelievable.

The Prism Knight couldn't believe his eyes. A hand was clasping his blade, even though smoke from the fingers that clasped the sword were burning. Someone had caught his sword.

A pop sound echoed off the roof and it was lit brightly by a thick crimson flame. That said flame was emanating from Horus's body yet not burning him. Soon the flames engulfed his body and protected his hands from the searing heat of the energized blade the knight held and leaped onto the prism knight's sword.

The knight tried to pull away but the vice like grip prevented his removal of the sword. Horus roar outmatched the thunder that took place and he swung his axe at the knight, feeling the fear of the axe striking him he backed away while parting with his sword.

The axe grazed his shield causing it to flicker. His flaming axe blow sent flames flying around the them on the roof from the explosive strike that blew a hole in the floor. Horus converged on the swordless Prism Knight, smashing his shield like a berserker with his axes.

"Maria! Are you there? Paolo? What are you doing here? Maria! Are you-!"

Rodrigo and some men had come up to find Maria and witnessed the scene of Horus on fire from a crimson blood like flame.

All were shocked by the scene. Maria herself was stunned and did not know what to do.

Every hit caused the shield to flicker from the enormous force that was impacting it causing the shields limits to strain. The Prism Knight turned pale but could only move away, Horus was too quick in recovering his strikes that he had no time to run, only think of doing his best to avoid being hit. The Prism knight watched in horror as the flame engulfed man beat apart his shield personally gifted to him by the elders. A final strike caused the shield to shatter like glass which sent him tumbling back.

So that's why Rune lost! He dreaded. It was too late to regret his actions of provoking the individual. His trump card had now been topped and he was completely helpless.

The flame engulfed Horus walked up to the frightened Prism Knight as he backed away with his hands and feet to crawl away from Horus.

"Hey, wait a minute. WAIT A MINUTE! Take me in, I give up! I'll hand over all the info I know, Prism Knights, ADVENT,…. Avatar! The top secret project the elders are moving full scale! Just STOPPP!" He squealed frantically.

Horus stopped right next to the Prism knight's feet. "It's as I suspected…."

"S-So you'll take me as your prisoner?" The Knight smiled like a glimmer of hope had appeared before him.

A flash passed under the chin of the knight. Horus swung his axe with his new found might and beheaded the knight. His head rolled along the roof, leaving the body kneeling as a bloody fountain feature.

"All Prism knights are fucking cowards!" Horus spat.

He turned around to meet with Maria, while holstering his axes. He too noticed the phenomenon appearing on him. He did not know how this happened only that his intense desire to save Maria had triggered the explosive force in his body.

"Is this….. the spiritual flame?" He looked at his hands that were bleeding fire an unnatural fire from his extremities.

Rodrigo walked forwards to face Horus.

"You've done it…."

"What?"

"You really beat the blood trials my family has participated in for generations."

"You?-"

"The old woman is my mother so I've known about your incursion into the temple since she mentioned it to me." Horus frowned as he used the word incursion, it was not intentional that he fell into the temple in the first place.

"Do not worry, I'm not finding faults with you. But I can see XCOM has finally undergone a rebirth!"

"A rebirth?"

"You aren't the only spiritual flame user in XCOM my friend, but you are its only remaining one! The Commander will need you in his fight now more than ever. Please send him my regards. Blood Champion." Rodrigo bowed respectfully to Horus who was anything but not surprised.

Rodrigo turned to his men. "We've leaving! Take these two with us." He ordered as he left.

Horus turned to Maria who wore a complex expression. He walked up to her but not too near because he wasn't sure if the flames would burn others. He didn't know how to turn it off.

"Hey!" Horus called her.

"Hey!" She replied, the flames were really distracting.

"I guess this is goodbye, until next time!" He said with an awkward smile on his face.

Maria burst out laughing at his silly smile and leaned forward to kiss him. Horus wanted to stop her because he didn't know if he'll burn her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck without thinking of the burns and kissed him on the lips in one deep passionate kiss. He reciprocated the kiss as he knew once she set her mind on something there was no stopping her. The flames engulfed her but did not harm her at all, only dancing off her smooth skin.

The men of Sicario watch the burning romance taking place on top of the raining roof. Paolo smiled wryly and told them to bring him away before he bleeds out.

Maria broke a kiss from Horus as she held his hands.

"If there was no one else you loved, would you love me?" She asked him the same question she asked before.

"I would and no other." He replied.

"How long?"

"One hundred years-…One thousand years!"

"One thousand years….. that's a long time." She murmured while bending her head in thought, sadness could be seen glittering in her eyes.

"This isn't a goodbye, Maria. There will be another time that I'll see you and Fernandez, when this world is ours again. I'll bring her along to meet you as well."

"I know, thank you for all you've done. You've let a child experience the joys of a family, a woman to feel whole again, and you saved us all time and time again. It would be unfair to keep you here when the world direly needs your help."

"….."

"….."

"I'm gonna miss those eyes too!" She laughed with him.

"Goodbye, Maria!"

"Goodbye, Horus!" She released his hands and walked off the roof of the factory to rejoin the resistance forces leaving the factory.

Horus walked down and sat beside the wreckage of the dropships with the severed corpse of the Prism Knight. His flames had finally gone out. The Factory exploded from the inside when the Elerium generator was demolished and the additional explosives ruptured the fuel causing a chain reaction.

Horus watched as the factory exploded like fireworks drawing his adventure in the Argentine Jungles to a close.


	14. Chapter 14 - My light in Despair

**Took a while but I managed to work up the rest of the story. Had alot of ideas and settled for on. BTW for my original Conquest story I'm reworking/editing the chapters, I've done until five and intend to go till twenty for the time being. I'll post a notice saying that.**

* * *

Alicia POV –

Alicia. My mother gave me that name, before she ran looking for my dad who disappeared days before my birth. I can only remember glimpses of her blurred out face as she held me for the first time, vibrant blonde flowing hair compared to my dirt blonde but sharing the same dazzling from her sapphire eyes like my amber. But her face wore grief of her lover's absence.

I was too young to understand the events that were happening at the time, if any word described the event it would be….

Apocalypse.

The old world was shattering and giving way to the new order, overseer by an Alien overlord. Governments fell overnight and new administrations were installed.

And where was I in all of this? In the Swiss alps, in a comfy cottage house being given care and affection by a stranger who raised me in place of my parents. I knew her as Nanna, her friends knew her as Lee Hye Gi, granddaughter of Tiger Byung, an old Korean general and South Korean statesman. But these were in the past and Nanna had long severed her connection with their affairs in her former home. I'm not sure what drove her to adopt me, when I asked her about my parents she would say.

"Your mother was the sweetest thing that could exist. She never looked at you with disdain or loaf, and every day was a gift in her mind. She is one of the reasons I took you in, a way of showing my gratitude and also because you were just the cutest!"

I asked the same for my father but it seemed to provoke a different response.

"He was an arrogant womanizing bastard! Hmph! There was even a nickname for him in the base for that at the time! I still find it hard to accept why your mother and me saw anything in him. And that wasn't even the absurd part yet, he had your mother and yet he went for another woman, the one you see in the picture! There's also something else I'll never forgive him for as well- Oh! Sorry, dear! Going a little off topic, me and my temper! Hehe! Will you forgive this old woman?"

There was a picture frame hanging on the wall, it had Nanna, my mother and father including the woman she mentioned about who was leaning against him in a rather lewd way. What kind of relationship were my parents in? Why was there a third occupant in their relationship? Nanna never hid this information from me so from early on in my life I understood that relations weren't as simple as a man and a woman who both love each other very much. Was Nanna part of this relationship? My father had a scary disposition about him, those yellow eyes like some predator or demon. I'm sure if they were here I'd be afraid to anger him, but I guess it wouldn't be that bad with my forgiving mother there to stand up for me.

Don't get me wrong! There's nothing in the world I would replace Nanna for, that includes my own parents. I look up to her as a maternal figure, her self-confidence and dedication to her peers were qualities that I admired in her. From what she tells me, she was my father's rival in a fraternity known as XCOM. A group of alien hunters dedicated to defending earth from foreign forces, and look how that turned out!

When I was four, we moved down to the havens in Marseille to live with a community. For someone who had spent her first four years of her life without seeing another person besides Nanna, it was a frightening experience. Thing weren't difficult in living with Nanna around, she was always a strong independent woman who could carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.

I went to a school run by a sister of the local abbey, at first I was lost on what to do. How was I supposed to make friends, play with others, no one was there to tell me how to do it. For a time, I was teased by the kids in my class and the one left out, I remember the most hurtful thing one said. "Mom says you're an orphan and we shouldn't talk to you!" "But I have Nanna!" "She's not your mother so that doesn't count!" I was infuriated, I could stand someone mocking me but never my Nanna. I can't really remember what happened later but Nanna was called to pick me up and spoke with Sister Philippe. The brat ran home with his front teeth gone and his mother complained to the sister. Strangely Nanna never seemed to get mad at me when I stood before her. In fact, she confronted the kid's parents and demanded an apology from the kid which he did out of fear. She was quite literally a tigress protecting her cub when it came to raising me. It unfortunately only served to alienate me from the rest, I thought I would spend the rest of my childhood alone.

But there was one person whom taught me the value of friendships, she came with her family as new migrants to the haven, Josephine was my first and only friend for a long time. If there was anything I was unsure of she would teach me how to do it, if I needed to confide anything to her she would lend an ear. When others laughed or tried to bully me she would be there to protect me. She was my precious childhood friend.

I thought those wonderful days would continue like it did.

But it all came to an end when I met him. I was now eight, one day on returning home I saw Nanna talking with a mother and son I had not seen in the haven before.

"Ah! Child, come over and say hi. This is Laura and her son William, they'll be living next to us starting tomorrow. Laura is a friend of mine from long ago."

"Alicia hey? You look just as beautiful as your mother, I'm sure you'll grow up to be drop dead gorgeous one day. Don't you think so, William?"

The ginger haired kid nods his head and shows me his brightest smile. I wasn't use to boys at the time so I ran off to house.

"Oh! Please excuse her, she just shy that's all." Nanna comes up with an excuse.

Laura Wolfgang was Nanna's old companion from XCOM and William Hiram was her son with another late friend of Nanna's. Somehow it qualified them to visit or come over on almost every day. I didn't mind it at the time, they seemed like nice people and William was a little over enthusiastic for an eight-year-old. But we played like kids should.

William was introduced into the abbey school and became instantly popular among the boys as well as the girls. It was the difference in our attitudes that defined our standing at school, to be honest I was a little upset by it but came to accept it over time thanks to Josephine's easy explanations.

"You can have many friends or a few really good friends. I'd prefer the latter!" I did too.

Six years went by like it was nothing, Josephine began asking things about William. What he was like and what we did. It was clear she liked him and I wasn't going to get in the way of her pursuit, in fact I routed for her. So I helped her by telling her the activities we did and have her observe and make deductions on earning his affection.

It was then that she turned pale upon an accounting on one of the activities that took place for the last six years.

"What? Isn't that what normal childhood friends do to one another?" I asked innocently, hoping she'd shed some light on what it meant.

"Alicia! That's not normal! Nobody show let you touch them as and when they like as he did to you!" I've never seen her get this upset and flustered.

So that was how I began to understand the seriousness of actions for the last four years together. I was always one for lacking in common sense, I have no one but myself to blame for my ignorance.

William played a game with me really early on that involved him checking my body and pulse, like a doctor's game. "It's an activity close friends do to one another." He said innocently back then.

Of course I didn't know any better and trusted him. I started to feel how dirty I had become over the years and it started to make me feel sick. Josephine frowned upon learning this, I quickly told her how I felt and how William didn't mean anything to me.

"That's all right, maybe it's what boys always wanted to do but you weren't told it was not right. I'll forgive you this once, but promise me you'll stop doing that with him, please!"

"Don't worry, after hearing it from you I'm feeling slightly upset about it! I still can't believe it's gone on this long without me knowing, thanks Jose!"

"Mmm! I plan to ask him out next Tuesday, just thinking about the prospects together is getting me all excited!"

If there was one thing I'd do for her it would be to help her get what she wanted, so I played along with her preparations and helped psyche her. Talk about this much work just to confess one's feelings as a prepubescent teenager!

I went home after my time with Josephine for dinner, turned out Aunt Laura and William were there as well.

"Alicia! Where have you been? Just look at the time! Never mind, just wash your hands and sit at the table. You've kept our guests waiting, silly girl!"

"It's alright Hye Gi, we dropped by unexpectedly after all! Right, dear?"

"I'd have to say if there's any reason I'd come here it would be for Alicia!" He announced so brazenly.

"Oh you little lady-killer you!" Laura tickles her son.

"Oh-ho! And what does our fair maiden have to say to such a bold declaration?-….Alicia. child?"

"Huh?- Sorry Nanna, what was it you said?"

"(sigh) Sometimes I worry about you my dear, always drifting off when others are speaking to you. Will you be alright on your own?" Nanna shakes her head.

"Don't worry too much about the girl, as long as she finds a good spouse then all her worries will be covered!" Aunt Laura explains to Nanna.

"Ah! Maybe! But who in the world would pick such a clumsy girl to be his partner?" Nanna joked as she downed a glass of whisky she kept for occasions with friends.

"Why not William? They've known each other for such a long time, I'm sure the boy is up for it as well."

"Leave it to me, Aunty Lee! I'll take good care of Alicia!" Nanna chuckled under her drink.

He turned to stare at me. For some reason the gaze was different from before, it felt more like he was leering at my body rather than looking at my eyes and it made me uncomfortable. Perhaps it was after Josephine explained the overly familiar contact William had been having with me for the last six years that I was feeling unsure of myself. I turned away and asked to be excused.

"Moohh! Alicia child! Can't you accept two old women's teasing a little? Hye Gi, can I have another glass?"

"Sure!" Nanna pours her a glass.

I went up to my room and sat on my bed gazing out the window into the night sky. It became a habit of mine to ponder deeply about things, tonight was about the casual comments Nanna and Aunt Laura mentioned on me and William together. That was something I clearly didn't want and I would prefer if Josephine tied the knot with William instead as she wanted.

"You really look beautiful even under the moonlight, Alicia."

I turned my head quickly to find William at my door. I forgot to lock it.

"At least announce your arrival! Please leave me alone for a while."

"What's the matter? Did what my mother and aunt Hye Gi say bother you that much? Is there no chance we can be together?"

"It's not that it's just-…."

He reached out to grasp my waist and pulled me towards him. It was done so quick that I didn't have time to react, I was still shocked by his sudden action. It was then that he bent down to take my lips that I broke the stupor spell.

"N-NOOO!" I pushed him away and fell on my back.

"What's wrong, isn't it like what we always do?" He was wrong, he had never tried to kiss me before.

"What we've been doing all this time was wrong! I was ignorant to common sense, and you didn't even tell me all this time!"

William's kind look changed into a frown and glared at me deeply it was as if he'd changed into a different person.

"Who told you this?" He asked in an inquisitive yet commanding tone. I was afraid for the moment.

"N-no one! I mean- Sister Philippe did some counselling!"

"Oh…..I see. Well, I thought it was fun to tease Alicia because she was so cute!" Like a storm that had just pass, his attitude changed 360 degrees and was back to the smiling innocence.

His explanation was anything but what I wanted to hear from him but I was too scared to think about it and immediately he left my room to join his mother and Nanna downstairs. I leaned against the door hoping my body weight would prevent another uninvited entry into my room and held my shoulders with both hands.

William was becoming an existence I was frightened of, I was sure by now that I didn't want to form a union with him. But what of Josephine, she didn't know him personally. I didn't want my only friend to suffer from his hidden personality. Should I tell her?

The next day, I left to visit her at her place to tell her of the about my findings.

"I'm sure it's just a short temper he had, who knows. I think it'll be pretty manageable, everyone gets mad once in a while!" I didn't explain it correctly to her at the time, I was too bothered with advising her to pull out from her confession that she got mad at me.

"I-I'm sorry! M-maybe you're right. Haha!"

"Oh! That's right! He just sent me back a letter last night that he received my message and wants to meet me at the old bell tower in the town centre. Isn't that romantic?"

"U-Um yeah!"

"Well, I'm heading out first! I've got to run an errand for Sister Philippe first then I'll head off to the old tower."

"Uh- Ok! Good luck!" I hoped deep inside that things would turn out well as she said it would.

But I was wrong.

It reached evening and she had yet to return home to tell me of her success. It was the first sign that something was not right. I quickly made my way to the venue of her confession, it was quiet and the only noise was the crickets in the thick grass. I traverse through the fallen beams of the old towers interior to get to the stairs and reach the balcony of the tower.

There I saw a Josephine with her back to the railings of the balcony, tear streaks dripping from her face ruining her make-up. She had dressed herself the best for the occasion.

"Josephine! What happened?"

"Stay back! Just-….don't!" She waved her hands out.

"W-What did he say to you?"

"I should ask the same question, what did you say to him?!"

"What- I don't-!"

"Why did he tell me he was disgusted with my interference with his affections for you? Did you know this all along?!"

"I-… I told him it was wrong to do the things he did and he asked who told me this but I lied!- Uh!" It was then that I realize that regardless of truth or lie he would have known who told me, there was only one person ever who conversed with me deeply and on a personal level, Josephine.

"Why didn't you tell me that he likes you?! I know!... You thought it was fun to see me fail so miserably at winning his heart that you sat there and watched!"

"N-No! It's not like that-..!"

"Don't cover it anymore! I hate you! I hate everything!... I'm tired of your lies! You're all liers and schemers!... I'm sick of this world! I just want it to-…."

She walked backwards leaning too far against the railings of the balcony.

"Hey!..Wait!- Jos-"

When I saw her body disappear from the roof my heart plummeted. I ran to the railings and looked down, a blood splatter around her body blossomed.

"JOOSEEPPHHHIINNNEE!"

* * *

I don't remember what happened after that, but Nanna told me there was a funeral ceremony that I attended. She was troubled by my behavior of not eating or responding to her calls, days went by where I lay in my bed or sat by the window in the abbey school doing nothing. But I was too shocked by her death to notice the gossiping from the relatives and other school children about my involvement with her suicide. I returned to the status of an outcast once more, but it didn't matter to me. My one and only friend was gone, there was nothing I could look forward to in the Haven any longer.

Worse still, William maintained his smiling persona as if it had nothing to do with him at all. I was too afraid of his personality to confront him alone, especially when the person I use to turn to for advice was now gone. For another four years in the Haven I spent helping Nanna in her work as a security head in the Haven, picking up the field craft from her on weapon handling, close quarter combat and combat tactics. She figured I needed something to take my mind off the loss and made me take up work with her. She was the best combatant in the Haven hands down, the director thought so too and immediately gave her the position years ago when we came to this settlement.

Unfortunately, Laura was just as capable in the business as Nanna and helped out in providing security and conducting armed patrols and contingency plans. With her was of course her son. I tried my best to avoid him when I could and if he ever faced me and conversed I would just nod or answer him and leave immediately.

It was internal torture, I had enough of it one day and was planning to leave the haven on my own. Nanna caught me at the moment I was leaving the house and we entered into a big argument which led to me barring myself in my room for a few days. It broke her heart to see me leave her as it did mine. I was an utter fool!

Then one day a recruitment tour came from none other than XCOM. The slogan was "Meet exciting new aliens, and kill them." Most of the young men who craved adventure outside the havens lined up to sign. There were some who were in it for the money and food it could bring to their large families.

I made up my mind after much thought. If it would allow me to leave this place, then I'd join the XCOM. This time I told Nanna of my intentions calmly instead of trying to run out of the house. But this time she didn't reject, instead she said…..

"I'm coming with you, honestly! You never give me a moments peace! The thought of you struggling in training-…. I just want to make sure you're alright. That's my condition, if you agree then pack your bags. We're going to XCOM!"

There wasn't the least bit of fuss with signing or entry into the base, there were some veterans from the old days whom recognized Nanna instantly and we were taken to see the head of the operations, Central as he was called by his subordinates.

"It'll be a privilege to have you back on the team, Lee! Does head logistics sound good to you?"

"You already want to work an old woman like me on the first day?" She teased.

"There was no one more meticulous in their paperwork and book keeping than you and for the record all of us are old men and women here! We aren't getting any older by acting so!" He shared a laugh with her.

"So this must be who I think it is then." He turned to me.

"Alicia Hunor, ready to get started and take names, sir!"

"Hmm. At ease, it's alright for now. The names John Bradford, in future it'll be sir or Central whichever floats your boat. I can see a striking resemblance with you and your mother, though there are some differences and places that take after your father.

I unconsciously wrap my body with my arms and turn away. Causing him to get flustered.

"I-I didn't mean to look at you that way!-... Lee? No! It's a misunderstanding!" Central cringed under the burning glare of the tigress.

And so, my training in XCOM began for a week under the old instructor Larry Fields. I received a lot of stares from the new and old members in XCOM. All from men, it made me feel as if they were licking me with their stares and I felt dirty from it. I'd either ignore it or glare at them as I trained myself to do. It earned me the reputation as the "Cold-beauty on Avenger". The thing I was most afraid of in my new environment was to be alienated again, my actions served to achieve this instead.

But it didn't turn out so when I was posted to my unit, given the designation Menace 1-5. The last in line of four other Fire Teams. There I met the kind and selfless Heather Fields, the instructor's daughter.

She helped me in my integration into the team, she represented a sort of mascot of the team because of her small size and youthful features but she was the oldest apart from the leader Michael. Cheering up its members when they're down or feeling depressed, she was an important existence in the team. It was no surprise that she and I became close, I always treasured friendship and wasn't allowing it to fail this time. She noted that I was the only one who didn't tease her for her small proportions and held a great respect for me as did I.

I quickly learned in the field that my prowess in fighting was a notch above the average combatants, I have Nanna to thank for her rigorous training back in Marseille and the lessons she drilled into my subconscious, because it saved my life on numerous occasions. Even instances where the entire team couldn't survive I came out unscathed. In the end, with the demise of Michael it was on his last request that I took charge of his Fire Team. He even left a letter writing a recommendation for me to take up a commission.

I received a pat on the shoulder from Nanna and Heather to take it up. Even when I was the rookie and she was the senior she encouraged me to take command as to answer Michael's last wish. I think my attitude softened up after these events and I smiled more and laugh.

Most of the people in the base noticed and were quite taken to it, I don't want to sound arrogant but I ended up receiving letters and requests to hang out or have coffee together. The difference in expression made such a drastic change in people's impression of me. I honestly found it distasteful, but it didn't stop me from being myself.

"Another letter of sweet boyish affections I see." Cooed my new co-worker.

"I don't think it's all that surprising Nee-san. Alicia has the looks, it makes you want to protect her innocence!"

"I'm sorry, you are?"

"Yoshikawa sisters! I'm your host Himeko and this is Tsukuyo Nee-san! Jaja!"

"She looks exactly like her doesn't she….." Himeko asks her sister.

"But with a tinge of resemblance with him…." Tsukuyo placed a hand on my cheek as she looked into my eyes.

I had no idea what they were talking about, did they know my parents?

"Ah!- Sorry about that! Nee-san gets like that when mentioning your father!"

"Did you know them?"

"Well….. it's kinda complicated."

Himeko and Tsukuyo were children at the time, at an event know as a terror site attack. They were separated from their mother and father. The aliens were in a one-sided slaughter of the Tokyo citizens and it seemed that all hope was lost when the Japanese Self-defense force was cut off from the capital. But descending from the sky came the combatants of XCOM, fighting with an unbelievable ferocity.

It was not common to have a foreign special forces group fight so desperately to protect them but they did, and the one leading them was my father.

"Your mother was there too, boy! I remember all the guys staring at her like some living saint goddess. But she did give that feel, and it was what really calmed all of us down."

"It wasn't just save our lives that your parents did for us, they helped patch up the space between us, you see…. Himeko and I are half-sisters. She used caring words to help me forgive my father for his infidelity and embrace Himeko as my sibling."

"Nee-san…"

"So if there's anything you need help with, feel free to say it. Onee-san will do her best to help you with it!" Tsukuyo told me patting her voluptuous chest.

"I-….I'll think about it."

"Mmm!"

"On the side note, you wouldn't believe how Nee-san was like back then! She may give this sexy older sister disposition but back then she was so tomboy she even wore boys clothing!" Himeko laughed at the old memories.

"H-Himeko! I thought we promised not to talk about it!" That was the only time I ever saw her so flustered and embarrassed.

"I'd show you an old picture if you want." Himeko whispers into my ear.

"Please let me see!" I said.

"Himeko! Alicia! (Sigh)"

I'm not sure whether to call them friends or not, most of our encounters involved them teasing me for my naivety sometimes, yet they do lend a helping hand when I need it most. Perhaps they are.

After two years of serving with XCOM in a forward base and later on the Avenger, my family grew. Heather, Luger, Rocket, Gunman, Shepard, Broker all had a special story behind their joining of XCOM. I hadn't felt this happy since I first met Josephine, even if the missions were sometimes perilous I still had the comfort of knowing I was there for them as they were for me.

And then the deviant that ruined my childhood memories arrived on the base. This time it was just William, Aunt Laura had returned to living with her brother and his family. I met them once before in their visit to the haven and there was little Lucius as well.

He used his devilish charms to get his way, and successfully took charge of Menace 1-3 in just a few months after arriving. Then he began approaching me, most times to talk or join me during meal. It was the nightmare all over again. But at least I had Heather to keep him away for me, I shared my story with her years ago so she understood what kind of existence he was. I was initially worried for her standing against him, would she become like my old friend? But she didn't have any affections for him like Josephine did. There was also a group of admirers that watched over her to ensure she was out of harm's way, she was just that good.

William was the reason for my trauma in trusting others and keeping away from men. Nanna was starting to get insistent I find a life partner at my age of twenty, I thought I would never associate myself with a member of the opposite sex.

That was until I met him.

* * *

I'd been on numerous VIP rescue missions, most of the staff in engineering were rescued by my team but this one was different.

Being chased through the street unarmed is usually a scary thing for a civilian who has lived his whole life under the protection of ADVENT, it's scarier when those who protected you are trying to kill you instead.

But instead of shivering between his legs he proved to be more helpful to the team than a burden. In the sniper alley he predicted an ambush for Heather by helping track and subvert the danger it posed to them by marking them for her. I was busy with distracting the ADVENT QRF and I underestimated the ADVENT presence in the area causing us to get hold up in the evac point.

Heather seemed to take the loss of Gunman and Shepard heavily and volunteered to stay to provide cover for our escape. I couldn't stand it, after gaining another friend only to lose her. I just couldn't stand it!

That was when he showed us his unusual gift with circuits. He sent the entry support grid into anarchy causing the ADVENT soldiers to stumble from the sudden loss of ground support and he turned the sentry turrets against them. With a few taps to his data pad screen he changed the entire outcome of our firefight and why did he do it? "It would be unfortunate if you died here, Heather." He said it with an awkward smile as if he had never smiled before, the funniest thing I had seen in ages. I laughed out loud much to his displeasure but at least I had an accomplice in Heather.

His name was Horus, a neat and tidy looking person which had a strangely quiet aura about him. Almost as if he would melt into the background if no one talked to him, but it didn't seem to bother him very much. He enjoyed his own silence, but his intentions were a mystery.

When I brought him to Central where he surprised him and the rest of the bridge crew with the holo-globe patch up. Bradford offered him a place amongst the engineers, he declined and requested to join the combatants instead. It was something I had never encountered before.

Skilled workers were rare and there was always a demand for the positions but few qualified for them though. And he wanted to take on the most dangerous job in the business. I asked Heather about what drove him and she told me about her first encounter with him.

"It clearly wasn't caused by shock, he was discovering some distorted nature inside of himself. But instead of avoiding him I think it's rather safe."

"Why do you say that?"

"He seems to have control over his emotions very well. Didn't he help us get out when things started to get troublesome. If he was as dangerous to us as that nature he showed for a brief moment then he would have just done what he wanted to do without concern for us. Perhaps he's drawn by the thrill of danger, it'll pass over time. He won't be harmful to any of us that's for certain, although we don't know much about his history to make that conclusion, I'll have talks with him to find out more." Heather seemed to be quite taken to Horus as well, but I think she felt he would be useful to our efforts in the field due to his abilities at hacking, she had a first-hand experience of this already.

I found it weird that I always looked forward to seeing him after my duty ended even though the nature of the visit was to see how he was doing. He was kind of funny and very knowledgeable on things even outside of his specialty it was always educational in our conversations.

I wonder what this feeling was, it felt extremely familiar and warm. That's right, he was just like Josephine. So I found myself spending more time with him at the expense of Heather doing some of my duties, he also reprimanded me on ditching my work. Even when a beautiful young woman is giving you her attention, it didn't seem to faze him. I found it quite frustrating that he wasn't taken to my looks but also quite comfortable around him for his non-oppressing nature.

I knew that I wanted him on my Fire Team, if anything. He was a great fighting comrade and friend to have at my side, there was also the ability he had with electronics and data.

There was some trouble with choosing him for my units because John J. Bradford wanted to push his authority and play around with us leaders to stay on our toes, asshole! He dropped a hint that there was a genius hacker among the new batch of recruits and revoked my right to choose when it was my turn.

They started sending out their men to gather info on who it was, so far no one knows about him yet. Tsukuyo seemed to show some response that she knew who it was, that's what I'm afraid. You can't have him, he's mine!

My head stumped against the table of the bar.

"What's the matter, dear? I rarely see you so tired in the bar." Tsukuyo pointed out.

"My right…"

"Hmhmhm! Still brooding on that? There must be someone you absolutely want from this batch of recruits. Don't tell me, you know who our mystery friend is do you?" She read me like an open book.

"You know, there is one person that I'm quite taken a liking to already! Horus was his name, he so happened to tell me his specialty out of coincidence. How lucky I must have been! If you don't do something about it soon he's gonna be taken by me." She grinned.

It was crystal clear she knew who it was now and knew I did to. So she openly declared war with me over Horus.

"Good luck then!" I raised my glass to her.

* * *

I received more scolding from Heather for skipping out on paperwork, it's not that I didn't want to I'm just trying everything to secure him. And he ended up in Harold's unit instead, although it was only part of his graduation ceremony to go on a mission. What was the probability that Harold would find out about his ability? Horus never made any promise with me that he'd join my unit either. Urgh! The stress this guy gives me, when I get him I'm going to overwork him for a week!

The klaxons went off and an emergency call for me and Menace 1-5 was sent to assemble at the hangar. Did something happen?

"Menace 1-2 has been placed in a tight spot and require a hot extraction, you'll provide cover for them to escape. Harold has sent me a message regarding valuable intel that was obtained recently, the clock is ticking!"

That's the unit Horus was in! Heather had the same pale look on her face as me as she came to realize it too. I hoped with all my might that he was safe and sound, I was right but the cost was too great.

Scattered about the place were hundreds of ADVENT bodies, and grouped together were the corpses of Menace 1-2. Luger came to apply first aid to the grievously hurt girl who Horus held her hand. But was too late as she succumbed to her wounds. He cried for the first time.

On the Skyranger, he was completely quiet one minute then cackling insanely the next. The weight of the girl's death and of his new teammates was too great that it broke him. I was just glad he calmed down after I lent my body for him to hug as he broke into a cry again, nobody said anything on board that time.

It turned out the intel he recovered from the site was on the location of the Commander who had been missing for almost 20 years, Central was ecstatic at the expense of Horus's rage.

I asked him on the same day about his history and he told it. He was an orphan like me whose parents went missing too early for us to remember and the struggle that he went through towards this moment. It was painful just listening to him tell the story as it was for him telling it. That's why Menace 1-2 meant so much to him when he was undergoing baptism under fire with them and why the stress and pain built up to that moment when the girl, Irish died in his arms. He had just enough of it, he swore to kill off the traitor that did this.

I suddenly realized that Horus had a lot in common with me, although his circumstances were a lot crueler. Where I had Nanna, he had no one. Just some trinket to remember them by and yet he made it this far on his own was just too incredible. I had something of that category as well, an engraved sabre from my dad. But Nanna always warned me from unsheathing the blade from its scabbard, a superstitious belief of it holding a curse. Since it was Nanna I listened to her, for some reason I could always feel a cold aura gushing from the sheath.

I think I was beginning to admire him for his courage in dealing with life and our mirroring circumstance became sort of a way in understanding him better.

Central gave control over him to me as I hoped, I wish it was in other circumstances that he did it but this was reality.

His daily activities for over two months consisted of the basic trainings we underwent, helping Heather out in doing my work I often ditched, and majority of the time with the Engineering team.

I went there once because I was curious while he was assisting Heather just to see what he had been up to. Lily caught me snooping around and instantly knew what I was looking for, she brought me to the workshop he had been helping out in.

"Is there any way you can convince him to drop his role as a combatant to take up a place as an engineer?" She asked but the answer could only be given by him, I was reluctant to let him go though.

"So what's he been up to down here all this time?"

"Helping us in the programming sector, doing Tygan's part in decrypting data caches, he's even rebuilding the entire class of Specialists with a fleet of drones like ROV-R here. It's kind of making us engineers look bad here!"

"I'm getting worried about him, it's not just happening on your end. He's been taking close combat courses with Heather and her dad and learning at an astronomical rate even while balancing the paperwork with Heather. It's like he no longer cares about his own well-being."

"… I'll keep a look out on him and make sure he has enough time to rest and recuperate." Lily ensured me which she did.

Unfortunately, he started having his breaks in the bar where Tsukuyo hangs out. Both of them ended up talking and sharing stories over a glass of brandy or scotch, I'm afraid the next minute she'll sneak in a few sleeping pills and bring him to her bed. So I forbad him from going to the bar without my supervision, of course Tsukuyo snickered at my intervention.

That wasn't the only problem I had with him. On several missions he presented this maverick approach to the fights and justifying it as "in the unit's best interests". I almost had it with him, but Nanna suggested something else when I brought it up to her.

He was afraid. Afraid to relive the moment his laxity caused the death of a teammate, to him it was a serious offence. Irish, or Carol as she was called died because the knight he pinned had awoken from his unconsciousness and taken her hostage. As if to some sick joke he played on Horus by slicing her throat in front of him. He ran after the Prism Knight and wounded but failed to kill him.

"It's times like this that men find comfort in the woman closest to them, this is the chance you've been waiting for. Go for it!"

Nanna seemed to get the wrong idea of my interest and admiration for him. I guess it couldn't be helped since I had shown Horus to her enthusiastically for the first time and talked about him almost every occasion. She was bound to assume I was after him, my lack of male friends and the fact that I even introduced him to her was equated to I thought of him fondly and had an interest in him.

But my real feelings were akin to a sibling….. I think. I've never had one so I wouldn't know! He definitely is an important existence in my life, but what is love? I've never experienced it so I wouldn't know. He is just like a troublesome older brother that needs his sister to watch over him in his exploits. I'm sure that Steph girl would have been pleased to hear my feelings, it's quiet cute to show him affection to make her jealous. No wonder Tsukuyo and Himeko like to tease others so much.

We meet the Commander together once, the most peculiar thing happened. He gave indication that he was familiar with Horus, causing the latter to have confused thoughts about his parents' disappearance. Every time I see him in a state of helplessness I want to console him somehow.

"Alicia."

Then the worse meeting happened as we left, William had found me with Horus. I quickly departed after exchanging a few words and left without hearing William and Horus conversation. He caught up with me as we went for lunch.

"That's guy is dangerous." He said after I asked an impression of William. I don't know if Horus was psychic or something or his critical analytical skills are a notch above. I shared with him a brief history with William and why I avoided him.

"Please promise me you wouldn't confront him again." I implored him.

"Ok." It was a simple word but it gave me the assurance he wouldn't go wild like he does on the missions.

I think there was some friction between Menace 1-3's girl gang and Horus and Lucius. I saw a confrontation in the hangar as we deployed for our missions once. Strange coincidence that there are only girls in Menace 1-3, except William.

"There are no guys in Menace 1-3." Horus once corrected me, I obviously knew what he meant in that joke.

Lily came to report her observations to me. She and I didn't need to be psychologists to know what was the word to describe him.

Self-destructive.

He had begun developing weapons to combat the Prism Knights he viewed with extreme contempt. Frost grenades to pin down the enemy for a period of time, an exclusive standalone to the exosuits Lily's team was developing, combat functions in the drones with reconnaissance features. They were all very well planned out and designed with his software. He'd go on with only two hours of sleep at times before joining the rest of the team for work and training. The engineers were afraid to take him off the team because it would affect production dramatically, which Central found unacceptable. Sometimes I want to punch him in the face for his lack of individual compassion, who was he to slave drive Horus like that.

At times, I'd tell him to wait on standby when there weren't any duties to run or let the others do the sentry shifts so he could take some time to rest.

"Thanks for watching out for me." He once told me, I'm not sure how he was able to tell or did he have eye on his back. It was still a nice feeling to have my efforts appreciated.

Things although fragile seemed to be going well, the pace was good and I didn't think it would change or need to change.

But I was wrong again.

* * *

The last I saw of him was when he left to aid Menace 1-3 who had gone off mission in the Argentine jungles. First the girls came back with Friday leading them.

"Where's your C.O. and Horus?"

"We got ambushed and pinned, he broke through and counter attacked on his own to give us time to bring our wounded back and William he-…"

"That's not what I asked! Where are they?"

"I'm not sure, ma'am. But he said he'd come back with William!" Friday reported to me.

We waited after clearing out the hostiles who blocked our way in the jungle. It was only a few seconds but every tick in the watch felt like an eternity.

Then William came into view…. Alone.

My mind was racing, I felt a little dizzy but steadied myself.

"Horus! Where's Horus?!" I ignored my indifference to William and grabbed his harness shaking him.

"He died saving me."

I could feel something explode inside me at those words, I fell to my knees and all my thoughts left my mind. I could hear Heather desperately calling me but I couldn't respond.

Somehow we returned to the base, I lost sense of time so I couldn't tell where we were when I was brought to the Commander's office.

"… and also Specialist Horus is KIA. Gun down by enemy fire, Lieutenant Hunor will need a new Specialist." William reported to the Commander, it sounded completely unappreciative.

(Smack)

My hand moved on its own and connected with William's face. Something snapped back in me and the boundary I made was crossed. I didn't bother to see their reaction nor hear them anymore and left the office to return to my room.

I spent three days in locked my room, Heather and Nanna popped by a few times to check on me but the door was always shut, she left food outside that was also untouched.

"…Even though you said you'd be back…." The grieving emotions poured out of my eyes.

I reminisced his face. Wavy short hair in chestnut brown, sharp features and those captivating violet irises. Recalling the times we had close together.

"Making Heather cover for you again?"

"You really are a handful for a leader!"

"If anything I'm still grateful for you being there when I needed it."

"You may be a slouch but you're alright."

"Meeting you was probably the best thing that's happened since ever."

I gripped my chest as I felt my heart tear, it was so agonizing that I fell off the bed but it didn't hurt as much as my heart.

Then I realized, I was suffering from heartbreak. I hadn't been feeling emotions of a sibling compassion. I loved him as a woman loves a man.

"Hehe!... You foolish stupid girl…" I said to myself walloping in self-pity. I had all the time to pursue these emotions and yet I just let it go to waste. I don't know why I even let him go off ahead of us to help William and Menace 1-3, it's not like they'd thank him for saving them. There was even the premonition I had about his demise so why?!

It was exactly like that time with Josephine on the bell tower.

"I killed him…."

But not saying anything, not allowing him to go I was the one responsible for his death. I wanted to laugh at my own despair, perhaps this was why he laughed too.

I let Nanna into the room and she sat beside me through the whole day to console me. That night I fell asleep due to the lack of energy from crying all day and the lack of nourishment. Then...

I had a dream.

I was looking through this person's eyes, it clearly wasn't me because of the proportions of the body I was in. And I wasn't in control, merely a passenger along for the ride. This person did some unbelievable things, fighting within an inch of his life against a giant serpent. His body was tattered, blood streamed from his extremities, I could feel the strength in the body waning as well. But he got up from stumbling and continued to fight with his axe and gun in hand like a wild berserker. Finally near the end of the dream he managed to decapitate the enormous serpents head from its wiggling body and turned to look at me. The face he wore was that of Horus.

I woke up from that intense dream and exited my room for the first time in three days. Nanna took me to the mess hall to eat something, I happened to tell her my dream while eating.

"It's a cryptic message by your sub-conscious! Telling you not to give up when the odds seem not in your favor or when all hope seems lost. Perhaps the face of Horus was what you associated with this kind of behavior. He! Even in dead he still watches over you." Nanna figured.

And she was right. I couldn't dwell on his death too long, someday I might be able to make peace with it. So until then I'll keep fighting for my friends and family to attain that peace.

Thank you Horus, for giving my life meaning again.

* * *

Fate had a funny way of playing with a person's life experiences. One of those interferences came in the form of a distress beacon coming from the Argentine Jungle near where we had our last mission.

My heart beat rapidly when the communications officer disclosed the coordinates of where the Skyranger had crashed were sent in the short wave message.

My mind was thinking of only one thing.

"It's Horus! Sir, permission to launch!"

"Granted." The Commander was surprisingly understanding. Tsukuyo and Mallory were supportive of my expedition as well, I can't thank them enough.

I left the office and dashed back to my room to dress up and ordered the team to assemble. The sword that sat on the cabinet I took as well, regardless of its ominous nature I'll take every and all available option I have with me. I don't now what perils may lie waiting for us there, but I was not about to leave him there again!

I was about to leave when the biggest obstacle in my life stopped me outside my own door.

"Alicia….."

Am I going to let him block me from doing what I want, Hell no!

"Get out of the way, William!"

"I know it's hard for you to accept Horus's death bu-!"

I'd have enough of his nonsense and rifle-butted him in the gut to get him out of my path. I continued on my way as he shouted in a commanding voice but I ignored it. As I walked along the corridor I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

I had finally overcome my own limitations.

Hold on Horus, I'm coming!

* * *

 **I'm working on the next chapters editing right now and will release shortly.**


	15. Chapter 15 - Ethereal Slayer

**I said I'd release this chapter right after the previous one. Sorry for the late timing. XCOM 2's DLC shen's last gift just came out. Looking forward to play again.**

* * *

-Entering the area the coordinates pointed to. Ummm….! I'm bringing it up on screen for you.-

Firebrand transfers the crafts front nose camera feed to the cargo holds screen for Menace 1-5.

On screen, thick black smoke billowed from the jungle in a continuous stream.

"What the hell did he do?"

"Firebrand, is that where the coordinates to the signal came from?"

-Affirmative, Alice. We can't tell much from this distance yet so bear with the wait, we'll get a better visual soon.-

Alicia continued to gaze at the screen with scrutiny, looking for even the slightest detail linking to him being there.

Heather watched her anxiousness with worry, she reached out to grab her arm.

"Alicia, looking at the screen won't improve your odds of finding him, sit down and let Firebrand take us there quickly."

Alicia reluctantly sat back in her harness seat, Heather smiled at her innocence. She could see the affection she had for him, the pain she suffered from hearing his death from a certain unreliable source. When they returned they would have to investigate what went down back there, Horus's testimony would play a big part in what would be decided.

On board were Luger, Lulu, Broker, Steph, and then themselves. She made Steph similarly settle down, she remembered that the girl had the same affection for him, wondering who she should root for. The thought made her chuckle.

"What?"

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about the excitement it'll bring back to the base." Heather gave her honest thoughts.

-Firebrand here, it seems the smoke was coming from a burnt down ADVENT factory of some kind, there's-… the camera has picked up some infrared signature of someone near a pile of derelict dropships.-

"Can you put it up on screen?"

The screen lit up once more showing a destroyed factory with dead ADVENT soldiers everywhere and sitting cross-legged by the derelict dropship was-

"Horus?" Alicia wanted to shed tears of joy but as she looked at the person sitting there she could not match the image of Horus that she knew with the person down there. The most dominant feature on him was his white hair, physically he looked a lot taller and muscular. The man turned to the Skyranger waving with a very familiar smile on his face.

"It's Horus!" Alicia knew that smile anywhere. This time she truly did shed tears upon seeing him alive and well.

"That can't be! What the hell happened to him?" Lucius asked the question that everyone was thinking about.

After much anticipation, Firebrand landed her craft near the landing pad which was unobstructed by bodies or craters.

Horus got up from his seat and walked to the parked Skyranger. As the loading ramps opened, Alicia dashed out of the cargo hold to meet him.

"Horus?"

"Quién esperabas?"

"Huh?"

Alicia was shocked by the language spoken, was she wrong?

"Ops! Sorry! I've been speaking Spanish for a day, my mistake!"

"Is it really you?"

"Who else could it be?" Horus smiled. Alicia darted straight for his chest in a tight embrace, afraid he would disappear again.

"I missed you!" She cried on his chest. It was an unfamiliar feeling, perhaps it was the time he spent away from them that created a distance.

"I did too." He said as he stroked her head gently.

"It must be a dream!..."

"I didn't think my leader cared for me this much."

"Uh-….. Idiot! You know how thoughtless you have been?! Playing dead!" She beat him as the tears trickled down her face.

Another missile slammed into him. "Ohff!" Steph hugged him without a care or thought.

"It's nice to see you too!" He chuckled.

"Heather." He greeted her as she came into speaking distance.

"Horus, thank god you're ok!"

"It feels good to be back." He told her.

"Do you know how hard it was taking care of Steph while we thought you were dead?!" Chris punched him on the shoulders.

"Chris…."

"Surprised to see me? I'm supposed to be your replacement after you were reported KIA!"

"I'm sorry I disappointed you."

"Eh! It's fine, at least this time we're all together now, you, me and Steph!"

Horus separated himself from the two that clung on him.

"What happened?" Alicia was anxious to know. "Why have you changed so much?"

"I was on the cliffs with William on my way back when the backstabber gunned me down and declared that you were his, talk about taking things too far! You've really been living with a psycho you whole life! And this…." He reached his hands out to look at them they were full of cuts and lacerations.

"…was the cost to escape hell." He finished his sentence with a malicious grin.

Alicia gritted her teeth. "That bastard! Wait till we get back and I'll-!" Horus waved his hand.

"He'll get punished alright. But that's not the whole story that I've to say. But first let's get back. I'm starving!"

"Alright, move your butts people!" Alicia called out to them.

Steph tugged his shirt. "It's nice to see you haven't lost the smile." She said before rejoining the group.

After all the members were on board plus one, they took off leaving the jungles behind.

"Horus, you mind me asking what is that?" Lucius was skittish about the headless corpse he brought back with him, so were the others.

"Oh that? That was a Prism Knight I killed this morning." He said it so casually.

"One of the traitors you've been so desperately trying to kill?" Heather remembered.

"This isn't the one I was looking for thought….." Horus begun to have thoughts about his next encounter with Rune. Would everything be a smooth sailing plan or one he goes berserk instead. The feeling of the spiritual flame flowing through his body with immense power was infectious, and wasn't something he personally wanted to depend on. He'd go back to the preparations before he disappeared.

"W-Why did you bring this with us?!" He asked again nervously.

"How else will we get to know their strengths and weaknesses without an autopsy. I want Richard to cut this loser's body apart and find out what gives him that over-powered shielding ability. And perhaps improve some of our melee weapons and armor tech." Now they knew his reason for bringing it on board but how did he beat the knight he had previously been so nervous about and had spent most of his time in Engineering building some weapon to fight them?

"Ok. We now know why you brought him, now for the next most important question. How in the world did you beat him?" Heather asked this time.

"With this." He withdrew his axe and stuck it in the headless corpse to stand on its own. The axe head cut through the solid torso plate like butter. Alicia stared attentively at the axes that seemed to have appeared in her thoughts quite recently.

"T-That's the weapons we recovered from Big Sky's Skyranger!" Heather instantly recognized it.

"I'm not sure who designed them but they're extremely practical! Perhaps the next mission you could bring it along and see for yourself."

"Let's get you back first, you've had enough action for this week. You need to rest!" Heather told him off.

"Sure."

Alicia who sat next to him while holding on to his hand to prevent him from leaving, as she was under the fear he would disappear again.

"Relax. I'm not going anywhere."

She brushed his hair with concern.

"What did you go through to become like this?"

"I've been through hell on earth before I reached the Sicario resistance base... but I'm afraid I'll have to keep this from all of you until I've met the Commander, he has some explaining to do as well."

* * *

The Skyranger docked on the hangar platform of the AVENGER, after many hours they were finally back home.

Horus felt like he had been on a training camp in the wilderness and finally returning home to the comforts of a bed and warm meal, not that Maria's place was bad but it wasn't his home.

"I'll head to the Commander's office first don't wait for me!"

"Ah! I'll go too!" Alicia walked side by side with him. She wanted to report William for his treachery.

They walked along the corridors of the AVENGER and people stopped and looked at them or more precisely Horus as they thought they saw a ghost because of his white ghostly hair, they thought he was watching over Alicia in spirit or a revenant.

"BO!" He couldn't resist scaring some who actually believed it, causing them to scamper of into the distance, Alicia watched giggling at his humor despite the adversity he had gone through.

The Commander was having a discussion with his fire team leaders, that included William when Alicia entered the room.

William saw her enter alone and began to heave a sigh of relief.

"Ah! Lieutenant Hunor did you find anything?"

Just as the Commander had asked her, Horus stepped into the room. William turned paled white with horror.

Horus drew the axe on his back as he turned to William and threw it with an inhuman speed, the axe flew and lodged itself just beside his head on the wall he was facing.

"I didn't know you were still here, I thought you would have run back to Mommy to protect you, Willy!" Horus grinned at him maliciously as he stepped closer to him. William backed away unconsciously at the terrifying display of strength and ruthlessness he had shown to him.

Most of the officers guessed what this was about, because the report William submitted did not match Horus's display of aggression against him. Alicia confirmed it to them.

"I charge Lt. Hiram with attempted murder of a fellow soldier!" She declared to the board meeting and the Commander who led it.

"This is insane! Guards! Remove this psychopath from this room this instance!" William called for help but the MPs were stayed by Central as he was the only one they answered to.

"Horus, I'm gonna ask you to restrain yourself for a moment." The Commander requested.

"Yes, sir." Horus stopped walking towards William intimidatingly.

"Is what Lieutenant Hunor saying true?"

"That is correct!" Horus nodded.

"You lie!" William spat.

"Shut up! Guards! Restrain him!" Central roared at him for interrupting, two MPs went over to William's side and stood by him after locking his hands.

"Do you have proof on this accusation?"

"…..You'll only have witness accounts of our locations and my testimony… at the moment."

"I see, then Lt. Hiram will be suspended from office until the charges are clear. Horus, please don't kill him in the meantime." The Commander warned him with his smile.

"There are fates worse than death, I'll listen to you on this."

"What?! Sir! You can't be serious about believing his ridiculous story!"

"Whether you did or did not, murder or attempted murder cannot be tolerated by this organization. Until the charges have been clear you will spend the next 72 hours in a holding cell, Fields will be there to state your rights as a member and officer."

The MPs were about to deliver him away, William turned to Alicia desperately for help.

"Alicia! Tell them that their wrong, you've known me for almost your entire life! You should know!"

Alicia heard this and lost control of her emotions.

"What I know? What I know?! All I know is you've been looking at me with an obsession since childhood! You've caused me perpetual agony for 12 years of my life, taking my friends away from me! And worst, you tried to kill the man that I love because he was in your way, even after he went alone to rescue you and your Fire Team from certain death that you were responsible for! You stabbed him in the back when our heads were turned and you crafted such a shameless story to cover your tracks. You disgust me! But then again you've always been a creep!" Alicia threw her anxiety in one pile at him in front of every officer. William hearing it from her own mouth lost control of his legs, he could not believe she saw him that way even after so long.

"But- Alicia...I...lo-..." His mouth just hung, unable to form any words from it anymore. William's head hung defeated as he heard her say that to his face.

"Take him away." Central told the MPs, who were probably going to lock him in the brig. Horus looked at Alicia stunned.

"12 years of pain thrown back at him! You feel better?"

Alicia took a heavy sigh to calm herself. "Actually...I do. I've never said anything bad to him before, perhaps that's why he constantly approached me."

Central cleared his throat to tell them they were still in the presence of the Commander.

"Is there anything else you would like to add?" The Commander asked him.

"There is, I met Rodrigo Delgado in Sicario yesterday."

Central and the Commander recognized that name and paid attention.

"Go on!"

"He told me about the spiritual flame user of XCOM. What exactly are they?"

Central's eyes widened with shock as to hearing that title, it had not been used for over 20 years. The Commander was as calm as ever.

"What do you know of spiritual flame users, specialist?"

"Nope, I asked first!"

"Horus-." Central was about to caution him but the Commander rested a hand on his shoulder preventing him from standing up.

"They were our greatest asset against the Aliens, this world's hidden protective power embodied into individuals with unique qualities. Using their latent powers, they helped us bridge the gap between the overwhelming disparity in our technology with the aliens, elders and to a greater extent against human opportunists. Your turn!" He threw the ball to him to speak.

"I think I'm a spiritual flame user." He declared bluntly.

"Sorry, sirs! But what is this thing about spiritual user we're hearing about?" One officer declared.

"They're a force of fighters with inhuman strength and abilities. This is the Earth's hidden protective power against extraterrestrials for eons." The Commander gave a brief summary.

The other Fire Team leaders were not sure what they were but from the sound of things they were classified info from the pre-invasion.

"Show me." The Commander said.

"I'm still not sure how it works." The Commander pondered for a while.

"They did have that amulet or bracelet with them as I can recall, do you have it?"

"You mean this?" Horus raised his left arm with the tattoos and the blood ruby bracelet on his wrist.

"So you did enter a trial ground." He said ever calmly.

"The guardian called it the temple of the blood serpent and that there were many like it around the world."

"That you are right, unfortunately access to them was never possible unless you were chosen to enter. If not, you simply won't see it as we found out later."

"Excuse me, sir! But why is this spiritual user thing so important? And if it only reveals itself to few then how did you find out about it?" Alicia asked curious to what Horus was referring to that had him in relation.

"Our theory was that each planet in a system holding sentient life had a means of protection, Earth was no exception. Who put it there? Plain walkers? Other more powerful aliens? God? We don't know the answer to that. The one who opened our eyes to this avenue was an old friend of ours. Your father, Lieutenant Hunor."

Alicia breath was taken away at the mention of her father, what else was he involved in? Tsukuyo seemed to be bothered by the name as well.

"So Martin Hunor was a spiritual user?"

"Yes. It happened during a rather unfortunate event during a training exercise in his recruit days, he fell into the trial ground by accident. But he never indulged it to us until the invasion happened, mostly because he wasn't aware of it in the first place. After all, who would you talk to about a place that doesn't have accessibility others and the weird happenings in that place. Mind boggling illusions, rubic puzzles or even suppressing a guardian avatar."

There were three trials like his, and the similarity in the final trial of challenging the guardian.

"Were there more like him back then?"

"We're not indulged to say, Horus." Central cut in to keep the info on a tight leash, at this rate the Commander would tell him and everyone in the room everything.

"So what were the spiritual users expected to do for you back then, what do you expect of me?" He was curious what were the jobs he would have to perform now.

"Just do what you do best, fight! Just like the trial grounds taught you." The Commander told him.

"The trial ground teaches me jack! I nearly died several times in there in each and every stage."

"Then why did you continue?" The Commander asked him.

"What?"

"Why did you continue on with it? Why did you fight, why didn't you just surrender to an eternal slumber like so many before you? Conviction. Things you couldn't stand leaving alone as you die a lonely death in a place no one would likely visit. The answer is simple, the trial ground taught you the most powerful impulse. The fear of death."

"….."

"So?... How was it?" He asked carefreely.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't ask that." He gave a warning glare to the Commander, but the latter smiled. There was only one other person who dared to do that to him in the past.

"Ok, lighten down Horus! I'm just playing with you. I'll be expecting a great many things now that you hold the right to this worlds protection. With power comes responsibility after all."

"...Do I get a bonus for special powers?" Horus asked cheekily.

"Horus!" Central said shaking his head with a sigh and laugh.

The Commander laughed out loud, surprising everyone in the room. "That's exactly what they said too!"

"So there was more than one." Horus collected what he had intended.

The Commander smiled at his trickery, the first time in years he had been outsmarted.

"Before I send you out, when you go out into the field, please be careful when using that power. Lieutenant Hunor's father left a huge scar on the elders with his abilities and they would be mighty cautious if you chose to show it. By now they should have already set countermeasures."

"I'll take that into account, although is there any notes or people who know how to develop this ability?"

"Hmm?... you should have a spirit emblem awoken after releasing the flame, that thing will teach you how to uses your powers although our accounts of the spirit emblems are different for each person. An associate of ours us to take records of their abilities however she… went missing a year ago, we hoped Big Sky was able to shed light on her location but unfortunately we only have the damaged black box containing the last known coordinates to where she might have been."

"Understood, sir!" Horus saluted with Alicia following as well after giving the appropriate compliments to the Commander and Central.

The room was left to Central, the Commander and the remaining officers.

"We can do this…." Central caught the Commander murmur.

"Sir?..." It was the first time he had ever heard the Commander give notion to his own belief in victory.

"Our strength may not be what it used to be but now…. all the pieces are in place." The Commander grinned madly.

* * *

They walked a distance in the corridors. Alicia was busy in thought and Horus tried to be considerate of her time to think.

"I just don't understand! Just what was my father, and what is this power you found?" She opened with.

"Perhaps it flows in you too, just a thought. But it's no joke, it nearly killed me several times, if you believe what I'm about to tell you then brace yourself."

"Was it really worth risking your life over this power?" She asked worrying why he had put his life in danger to attain it.

"First off. I never wanted it, that stupid snake wouldn't let me get out of the cave I woke up in that turned out to be the first trial. I sat on a ledge living on my supplies for two days until I had enough of those zombies!"

"Zombies?!"

"Quite hard to believe now isn't it!"

"No! Everything you say I'll believe!" She told him with resolve.

"You look a little unsure yourself." Horus said as he looked at her.

"Huh? Uh- Do I show it on my face? That's not what I meant! It's just-…"

"Just what?"

"Now it's my turn, you promise you won't laugh?"

"Telling me that only makes me want to prepare to do so."

"Urgh! Just- Ok! Whatever, here it goes…!"

Horus wondered what was all the exasperation on.

"The day before we received your message I had a dream….. I involved someone challenging a giant serpent. At first, I thought it was my subconscious playing thoughts in influencing my dream but-….. that was you wasn't it?" Alicia smiled wryly.

Horus's eyes widened.

A dream? It sounded more like a vision than anything, could she be clairvoyant? No. It's probably just a coincidence-

"Horus, boy? Is that you?" When they arrived at the armory old Lee straightened her glasses. Horus was broken from his train of thought and turned his attention to the old guardian of Alicia.

"It's nice to see you too, Madam Lee!" Horus responded.

Hye Gi turned to Alicia who was smiling through her teeth.

"My god, I thought you really were a spirit as some had been telling me!" Horus and Alicia laughed at their prank gone too far.

Madam Lee proceeded to pat him down to make sure he was real, almost like a mother seeing her son return from war.

"Nanna he's real!"

(Slap) "Ouch!" She walked up to him and slapped him hard in the face.

"Don't make an old woman worry about you, little scumbag!" Horus held his red cheeks as he was shocked by Madam Lee's sudden use of violence on him.

"What is this?! When did you become my mother?!" He played as a straight man.

"You didn't just make me worried you made this poor girl lock herself in her room for three days straight! Repent!" Madam Lee raised her hand wanting to smack him again.

"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you both!" Horus flinched in face of the imminent hand. He naturally found himself cowering in her maternal presence.

"Good! Be true to your word, don't make her upset again, clear?" She was satisfied with his proposal of including her in his list of people to make it up to.

"Crystal!"

"I'm going to reopen your room and that involves kicking out the new owner, why don't you follow Alicia and have a nice chat about what you've been up to these few days." Madam Lee disappeared behind her work counter and winked at Alicia before leaving.

As they reached her room and she swiped her card to unlock the door, he sat at the chair while her the bed.

"I want to hear your story." She said with resolve in her eyes.

"All right, here it goes! Prepare for the most fantasy-like you might hear." Horus cleared his throat to prepare to tell the story.

Beginning with the time he fell down and rolled into the cavern. The fight to the death with the zombie horde of failed applicants. The consumption of the serpent's blood that caused him the death desiring pain. Finally, the giant boa guardian and the blessing it gave before sending him on his way.

Alicia looked as if he had taken the pain in her place, agony was written all over her face. It honestly troubled him that she made such a face and he could not persuade her that if wasn't her fault. His body, the scars, the tattoo, the white washed hair of his all told his story of life threatening pain.

Time to change the subject.

"By the way, although it's been quite some time since, 'the man I love'...?" Quoting her previous spat at William.

"I-I that-.." She realized what she had just blunted out back in the office.

"Alicia, would you hear a short story?"

"U-um!" She hesitantly agreed.

"After I fought to an inch of my life in the temple and finally left that wretched place I have for the first time in 20 years valued the time I had to think. I knew that the moment I left the temple, the old Horus probably died in there, what was left was merely a vengeful spirit hoping to destroy the Prism Knights, bring justice to William and give you peace of mind I was alright. But after that, my life had little meaning if all those priorities were fulfilled-."

"NOO!" She unconsciously yelled as she heard his despair ending. He held her shoulder.

"Just let me finish first."

Alicia took a while before nodding to give her approval.

"I ended up in finding the resistance to contact, there I met a young woman leading the group. After assisting and convincing them I was brought back to the camp. This woman offered me a place in her house until I could get back..."

Hearing him she felt a little tang of pain at the mention of a woman, was he going to say he liked her? Was she really too late in finding her feelings for him?

"The woman had a son called Fernandez, five or six I couldn't tell. They only had each other, yet their faces said they were truly blessed with everything… I truly envied them, that was until they shared some of it with me. The time I spent with her and her son were probably the best days since my parents disappeared..."

"Please stop!" Alicia said shivering in tears.

"She asked me several times if there were no other would I love her. And I said only if there was none, but there is!"

Alicia looked up at him realizing what he was saying.

"Because the one I love is Alicia. Why? Need I a reason to love someone?" He said bending over and holding her chin up for a kiss.

Alicia did nothing to object against it and he took her lips for the first time, she held her arms around his neck afraid he would break the kiss.

* * *

Horus was made to go to the infirmary to check on that battered body of his and get a scan to make sure everything was ok.

"Now I need to warn you, Dr Yoshikawa is a little... promiscuous. Remember, you belong to me now! Don't fall for other woman's charms so easily." Alicia left him a warning before he left.

A little promiscuous? That wasn't a very good analogy because Horus was made to strip off his clothing and briefs, the Doctor had just stared at him lustfully while making rounds about him before sending him into the scanning equipment.

"Right, let's see! Multiple bites on limbs, cavity from bullet tumble, lacerations throughout your body, and traces of boa venom in your blood stream although clotted. All healed looking as if you were here only to get a glimpse of the gorgeous Doctor." The doctor read out the various inflictions he received in the span of four days ending with a joke.

"You meant she likes to tease her patients!" Horus mumbled to himself.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Nothing! Just inner monologue, doctor."

"Please, just Himeko when we're alone." She said biting her spectacle frame seductively, it was all too familiar.

"Are you somehow related to Lt. Yoshikawa?"

"Oh! Tsukuyo nee-chan! Of course, how did you tell?" She cooed at him.

"I would love to just say your matching surname but there are matching antics."

Tsukuyo had this older woman charm to her that sent most men in the base wild with lust with just a gaze from her or a blow kiss. But he could tell- no. He could feel with Himeko it was something else. Something more sinister and perverse.

"Well to be fair we're only half-related, through our father."

"Your dad must've been quite a player then and probably good looking to, to have made two beautiful offspring." He said without care. He wasn't sure why he said it even, it's not like he wanted to hit on her.

"Why thank you! But honestly the beauty has to come from our mothers!"

"If I were dad I'd be really upset to hear that."

"So you're the Horus I've been hearing rumors on, you even broke that young girls heart with your death, how is she?" Himeko changed the subject.

"Who, Alicia? She's recovered I would say, this wouldn't have happened if William didn't try to kill me when we were conveniently alone then."

"I've heard the rumor, but to think it were true."

"I think Central you will require you to do a psyche test on his mental stability soon."

"Unfortunately I don't specialize that particularly in that field. And no, it was Stephanie, poor girl."

Steph…. So that's why she was so attached to me. But I already have Alicia.

"Uh- Right! Can I put on my clothes now?"

"Mmm...sure!" She took her time to said so while still staring at his lower body.

He had never felt so uncomfortable with her staring at his naked body.

"You're so lucky this ship doesn't enforce sexual harassment."

"Oh, come on! You are one of the few who has decent goods downstairs!"

"Nice try with the compliment but it won't buy you out every time."

Himeko chuckled as he continued dressing back in the combat fatigues reissued to him

"The white hair is from being put under extreme stress for a period of time causing trauma to the body and bleaching your hair white." Horus was already aware of that symptom but would it recover?

"What did you go through..." Himeko mumbled.

He remembered his scan report details and asked about the most pressing affliction. "Do you have anti-venom?"

"We use the doses from the Viper because they seem to have a genetic ancestry connection to earth's snakes. Curiously you won't need it!" HImeko said while tapping away at her datapad.

"Huh? Why?"

"I've looked at your circulation over the span of two hours and I've notice your blood cells isolating then consuming the venom, it's remarkable! I want to get more blood samples from you to study if that's alright!"

What the hell was in that blood?!

"I'll see about it!" Seeing her so frequently was something he was reluctant to do.

"Mmmm….. I prefer if you gave a more solid answer, oh well! Here are some pills for in case of gangrene and another for jungle fever, take two each day for a week." She placed the prescription medicine on the table which he took.

"Thanks Doctor!"

"No. Thank you. Nee-san wasn't wrong when she said you were interesting." She chuckled away as he left.

"I'm going to avoid that place as much as possible." Horus declared.

The Engineering had yet to hear of his return so he thought of playing a joke on each and every engineer, he'd scare one each time and have he/her cooperate in making his return of Horus's ghost theme look more authentic. The last person they were going to scare was Lily.

She had been away from the workshop for half a day which gave them time. Lily returned to the workshop to find the lights off.

"What the- where is everybody? Did they skip work early again?!" She angrily fumed.

She saw the lights on only in her workstation and went to off them. (Clank)

"Robert?"

The door to engineering sealed shut automatically. The lights in her place began to flicked and shut off by itself.

"Urgh! What's with this situation?" She briskly walked over to turn the lights back on. When she reached the switches they refused to light up the place. Then.

The lights in the workshop flicked and turned off, getting her attention. The lights turned back on, a bloody figure stood in the centre of the walkway facing her. She recognized the face, it was Horus.

"H-Hyiiiee!" Lily froze in place dropping her datapad as she witnesses the eerie sight the mangled corpse standing in front of her.

"Liiiilllyyy...wwhhhyy!" Horus reached out to her limping.

Lily scurried backwards against the workshop table, fear plastered over her face.

"W-W-What?!...what is it?"

"Why did youuuu installl thattt programm in myy drronee?! I losstt myy lifee becausse off iitt!"

"NO! That can't be-...!" Lily shivered the sheer weight of causing his death caused her to lose heart, she deserved this, it was divine retribution.

"I'm sorry!...I'm sorry I tampered with your drone! I'm SORRY!" She screamed as the undead Horus reached up and clasped her feet dragging her towards him.

"Please...just please don't hurt meeee!" She cried from the fear of losing her life.

"Then stop sneaking shit into my stuff!" Horus said in his normal voice.

"Huh?"

""""Surprise!"""" The rest of the engineers came out from hiding and talked about the scare experiences they had.

"H-Horus?! Your alive?!"

"Yeah! I just thought I couldn't miss this chance to shock all of you!" Horus and the engineers laughed out loud at the thrill of the scares.

The whole scene was recorded on camera as they put it up on screen for all in engineering to enough.

"Chief! You did well for the first 30 seconds, better than anyone else!" Robert came over and informed her of her longest run without breaking down like the rest.

"O-Oh!...Hmph! Of course! Who would be scared of flickering lights?"

"But you did stumble after I showed myself."

"Shut up! No one did better than me so you have no right to judge!"

"Horus, who should we scare next?" The engineers didn't seem to have enough of this short lived entertainment.

"I Dunno, by now the base should have pass rumors that I survived." The engineers seemed glum after he mentioned that.

"What a pity?" Robert looked down.

"Did you record it on tape? Let's show it to everyone in the mess hall!" Horus suggested, they liked his idea and gathered to present the video to the whole base.

Lily realized what they were going to do but she was helpless to stop them as they moved as a rampaging herd. "What?! Hey! Wait! Don't show my scene! I will lose everybody's respect! NOOOO!"

* * *

On top of the conclave tower, the prism knights gathered for the first time in months. The agenda of the meeting had not been disclosed and only required that they be present.

The Prism Knight passed the ADVENT guardsmen and staff officers who saluted him due to his presence as a senior officer. He didn't bother to return the salute, to him they weren't worth his time and effort.

Rune Barbatos walked up the steps to the circle meeting, the surroundings were dark save for the round table where the select few knights chosen by the elders as heralds to perform their duties in maintaining the bulk of the ADVENT military.

"Look who's finally arrived, the coward who ran with his tail between his legs." Rune didn't need to guess who it was that was leaning against the wall in the dark.

"Tyan. I didn't think you'd be here. Shouldn't you be wasting your time in a nightclub or something?"

"Well there has to be limits, dear Rune. I wonder what the topic of today is, maybe they want to bring up your disgrace as an example? What was that rebel's designation again? Puppeteer?"

Rune could do nothing but grind his teeth, it was just as he had said. He ran to live another day, if he even came across that scrawny dog again he'll slowly torture him to regain his dignity and sate his ego. The news of his escape reached every knight's ear, he was to be the laughingstock of the entire knights' order.

"Enough of your criticism, Tyan! You do not have the best record in conduct to judge others for their mistakes." A voice from the prism knight that just walked up the steps into view, Rune instantly recognized who it was.

Reylene Drakken, the self-righteous little justice freak. Had a boyish face on him while emitted inexperience. So blind to see the world for what it really is, a meat grinder. He still thinks ADVENT is in the right even after all the atrocities we were ordered from up top to committed. He spends time socializing with those weakling civilians, of course they'd look up to him. Rune smiled with disdain at his naivety.

I can't wait to see the look on his face when he comes to realize what we do. The second thing on my list of things I desire.

"Come on, Reylene. Relax a bit, these two just greet one another like that all the time!" The comment came from Bright Sandhurst. Cheery big size fellow and with a persona unsuited for knight duties, but behind that happy go lucky attitude was an immeasurable track record of successful liquidation of Insurrection forces.

"I see you have all more a less gathered, all four of you." The grandmaster Martel appeared and took her seat at the head of the table. Age of twenty-five and she was already leading the knights in the 3rd conclave. Her prowess in sword skill and strategy earned her the place as the leading figure behind the conclaves fighting capacity. The only person Rune would give respect to when it came down to business, he wouldn't even give it to Grandmasters of the same level. In fact, you could say deep down inside he was infatuated with her since he had entered the knights' academy. When he first laid eyes upon her, that gentle face, the wavey lusterous red hair, those dazzling violet eyes seemed to have cast a spell on him. His limbo was bursting with energy that he'd imagine plowing her as he stared down those glittering eyes. Would she cry and beg him to stop? The thought only turned him on even further, he made it his fantasy and perhaps one time dream to make her his.

Rune stopped his thoughts and checked his expression to ensure he wasn't showing any of his emotions to the rest.

"Where are the rest?"

"I deployed them on a search a while ago after briefing them, you are my last group."

"What's so important to call a meeting with all of the knights for anyway?" Tyan asked casually.

"A knight has been slain." The words that came from Martel's mouth spoke of the unbelievable becoming believable, with the exception of Rune. He was thoroughly aware of the knight's mortality after that engagement with those XCOM soldiers, the scar from where his fusion sword had stabbed him in the shoulder started to itch at the thought.

"This can't be..." Reylene said placing his hands to his gasping mouth.

"Ney, it is the truth."

"Who was it?"

"Yonder! He was deployed to Argentina to deal with increase rebel activity, he was killed right after arriving."

Yonder wasn't good in performing hunting missions like the rest but his abilities at interrogation were unparalleled. Rune thought he was still a weasel and a spineless coward, if ever one of his victims got free he would squeal at the first sight.

"Those filthy rebels! Have they no decency, attacking while we are unguarded?" Tyan slammed his side of the table in fakery but was secretly glad to see a fellow knight meet his demise, this placed him higher on the upcoming promotion.

"Oh! I assure you that's not the case, Yonder fought with all he had but it's just that his opponent was better. If it were this meeting wouldn't be called, there would just be a service from Yonder and a replacement called in his place."

"What happened then?" Reylene asked.

"He was slain in hand to hand!" Martel said these words with a grin.

"C-Close quarters... that's not possible! We the Prism Knights have been handpicked by the elders for our prowess in military combat and have given the latest in weapon technologies."

"And yet here we are in the conclave. Tyan, keep your disbeliefs to yourself!" Rune told him with spite.

"You-!"

"Quiet, both of you!" Martel snapped at them.

"How did we know about this?" Reylene asked.

Martel turned on a screen showing the cameras pan throughout the burnt up factory in Argentina.

"When his vitals flat-lined and the investigation team arrived to the forward factory they found it completely in ruins, Yonder's head was recovered severed from its main body. The overseer elder was called in to draw the last pictures via psionic telepathy. He gave these images." Martel pressed the remote to play the fight.

Up on the rooftop, Yonder interrogated a rebel and was interrupted by a white-haired man.

When Rune saw the person he instantly banged the table to lift his body to see closer.

"It's him! That hacker!" Rune said out loud.

"You've met before?" Martel asked as he paused the scene.

"Yes, that cowardly worm turned my MEC troops against me then ran from the field until I was finished with them. Then he got the upper hand from depleting my shield with assortment of methods! That bastard is a crafty one I tell you!"

"Really, the 'puppeteer' from your most recent activity. Is that the official story report on your engagement that day?"

"Yes, it wouldn't be a surprise if Yonder had fallen from his schemes like-."

"Like you? Rune, no! Sir Barbatos, I would advise you to watch your tongue when mentioning another knight. It also insults the institution which trained and commanded him! Besides the way you mentioned him and in this video are completely contradictory, observe." Martel laughed with disdain.

Rune was confused by the comment his idol just gave.

He clicked the play again, the scene proceeded with the white haired man attacking Yonder with brutally quick speeds with a pair of axes causing Yonder to lose his footing. The attack played out that the man continued attacking him without rest and Yonder was completely stumbling. Then Yonder tried to go for a wounded soldier, that's when Reylene couldn't stand what he saw.

"Preposterous! He went for a helpless injured man to take as a hostage, coward!"

"Keep watching." Martel told Reylene.

Yonder doubles back and goes for a woman instead from before that the white hair man was blocking him from getting to, he swings his blade to take her apart. Reylene closes his eyes. But then the blade reaches only centimeters from her head, Yonder looks down to see a hand had caught his blade. A strong wind bursts from his left and a raging flame engulfs the hand and towards the sword he tries to pull out. Yonder turns to the owner of the hand, the white haired man as he sees him aflame yet unharmed by it, a truly strange phenomenon. Yonder begs for his life as his shield breaks from constant hammering from the burning man, he looks up once more at him and the head flies off his body.

"What the hell was that?" Rune asked having difficulty comprehending what just happened.

"The reason we dispatch is to eliminate that person, he is a high priority target personally marked by the elders to be eliminated with extreme prejudice."

"That's not answering the question!" How could it be that this person possessed such supernatural abilities.

"Whatever it is the elders want dead you'd better perform! Know your place, Rune!"

Rune's heart palpitated, the image of that guy fighting him cautiously and the present one where he pounded Yonder with axes didn't match, neither did their appearance. Did that person have this strength all along? Or was it just a coincidence that this person and 'puppeteer' looked alike. Twins perhaps.

"Could I have just stepped on the lions tail?..."

"What's the matter, Rune? Did you just fabricate that story to save your own face?"

"Shut up!" Rune roars at the ignorant Tyan.

"Rune, how could you! A knight lost his life because of your incompetence!" The self-righteous Reylene reprimands him.

"No! No! No! That's not right! It's just as Grand Master said, the two people are nothing like I mentioned, he was never like that, it must be a different person that looks the same!" Rune struggles to justify himself.

"That no longer matters, what is important is why you four were assembled for. The four of you will form a team to locate and destroy this person."

"Where do we start?"

"The overseer elder left us on clue on the whereabouts of said person, XCOM."

"Great! Into the hydra's den!"

"Do we have a name for him?" Reylene asked.

"The council has decided to designate him 'White Axe' until his real name comes into possession."

"White axe...?"

"That's probably the worst name the conclave has come up with!" Tyan ranted.

"For lack of a better name, it'll stay that way!" Martel glared at her subordinate.

"Apologies, Ma'am! I meant no disrespect."

"Hmph! I don't want to say this again but remember that this is a team, use extra caution when confronting him. The overseer elder has instructed me to keep watch and report every turn of events when coming across that person."

"Forgive me, ma'am! Why are the elders so bothered about this person, they've never been bothered about our work thus far so why is this person so important?" Reylene using his stunning intellect at planning asked for lack of better explanation.

"In the beginning days of their arrival the elders came across these warriors, coming exclusively from XCOM. They were immune to the incredible psionic powers of the elders and killed several of their kin in retaliations, the elders obviously could not forget them but when XCOMs base of operations was destroyed there was no traces on their whereabouts, they simply vanished without a trace. The signature trait they own is the colored flames, herculean strength and reality bending powers."

"So they are our equals then!" Tyan said speaking highly of the knights' conclave.

"With that kind of naivety I think you'll be the next to go, did you not see what he did to the shield, he attacked it with axes! You of all people should know about the protecting qualities of it, after all you've hidden behind it almost every instance." Rune grinned.

"Bastard!"

"If you two can't cooperate then I will send you to the reserves!" Rune and Tyan quieten down after Martel threatened to take them off active duty.

"You are to be deployed to the region of Asia to monitor for XCOM activity in the area, your instructions will be posted to you within the day, dismissed!"

"Guess this means we're a team, but that doesn't decide who's the leader!" Tyan created a strife in the four of them almost instantly, they couldn't tolerate being commanded by others especially each other.

"Come on now, Tyan. Don't be like that." Bright said to calm down the rest.

"That has already been decided, Sir Drakken will be your leader for this team, you two will follow him orders to the letter. Am I clear?"

""""Yes, ma'am!"""" Although their hearts weren't they obeyed their superior.

Martel walked out of the table and off to do her work.

"Then, tomorrow we begin. Tyan, requisition transport to New Beijing, we're meeting with the territorial arbiters to source for local intelligence leads. Rune, go to the quartermaster and request the use of 'those' weapons." Reylene was quick on his feet and had already planned out the actions.

Rune and Tyan were shocked by his orders, he requested he go to the conclave armory to retrieve one of their most valued weapons. The 'Black Series' armaments.

"Oi! Oi! Oi! The Black Weapons? Isn't that beyond our reach as initiates?" Bright stated and he wasn't wrong. There were four levels in the conclaves among four different other conclaves. They were the lowest in the group despite the authority they wielded as knights.

"Will we have clearance?" Rune asked but was game to call upon it, if it meant he would destroy the living humiliation on the loose.

"We will, because we're after a person who can kill an elder!"

* * *

 **Things are getting interesting.**


End file.
